A Birthday Present
by JadeDragoness
Summary: Updated! Chapter 19! - Iruka's birthday is coming up in a few days and Naruto needs help finding him a birthday present, so he enlists the help of Sakura and Sasuke. KakaIru, & SasuNaru.
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Birthday Present  
  
Author: J.D.  
  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me…..hell bells!   
  
Warning: errr, well.. YAOI!!! At least in later chapters. Right now, more like shounen ai. If you don't know the meaning of those phrases, please go to your nearest search engine and LOOK IT UP!!!! Also, for any haters of Sakura out there, I tried to make her likeable while still acting like herself, if that makes any sense.  
  
Rating: P.G.ish, for now *evil grin*  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Author's Notes: Hi everyone!!! I've spent so much time reading all the wonderful Naruto yaoi & shounen ai fics posted here that I had to try my hand at it.   
  
Though right now you all can thank the posting of this chapter on the arrival of my Iruka plushie! *glomps Iruka-chibi* I hadn't actually planned on posting this until I had written more of it. *shrugs* But I just had to do something to celebrate the occasion!!! *happy dance of eternal joy*  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Ok, enough of the babble, ficcie down below!  
  
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"Come on guys," whined Naruto Uzumaki, to his two team mates. Team 7 was once again waiting for the arrival of the arrival of their teacher, the jounin Kakashi Hatake. He was already over three hours late. "I need your help!"  
  
Sasuke Uchiha rolled his coal black eyes and gave Naruto a mild glare, "You haven't told us what you need help for, dobe."  
  
Naruto snarled at the insult but bit back a scathing retort. He hated to admit it, but he needed that bastard's help.  
  
Sakura Haruno gave Sasuke a starry-eyed glance before giving Naruto a doubting look and saying, "It would help us if we knew what you needed help with." Her eyes narrowed, "Because if it's for some stupid prank…."  
  
"No, no," Naruto shook his head in frantic denial, making the blond hair flare out. "It isn't like that at all."  
  
"Then what is it?!" Sakura asked impatiently.   
  
"Umm," Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his blond head. "I need help finding a present for Iruka-sensei. It'll be his birthday in just three days, on May 26th."  
  
Both Sakura and Sasuke gave Naruto two very surprised looks.   
  
"I didn't even know you knew the date of Iruka-sensei's birthday," Sakura said. Then her eyes began to gleam with a typical girl's fervent joy of shopping. Both Sasuke and Naruto exchanged frightened looks and backed away from the pink haired girl. They didn't even noticed how they got closer to each other as if ready to jump to the other's protection.  
  
"Scary," mumbled Naruto. Sasuke silently nodded in agreement and kept a wary on the maniacally grinning girl.   
  
"This is perfect!" she cried out. "I haven't been shopping in ages. I'm always too busy training or on missions." Sakura spun around to face them, making both boys jump. "Naruto! Do you know the sort of stuff that Iruka-sensei might like?"  
  
Naruto crossed his head in front of his chest and tilted his forward. His face was uncharacteristically serious, his mouth in a deep frown and he closed his bright blue eyes. He hummed for a few seconds. Then he looked up at Sakura and Sasuke, giving both a huge smile, Naruto said, "I have no idea!"  
  
"What!" screamed Inner Sakura, while Outer Sakura looked ready to strangle Naruto.  
  
Sasuke fought back a smile at Sakura's expression and gave a Naruto a cold look.  
  
Sasuke said, "Dobe."   
  
"Hey! Stop calling me that!" Naruto protested, "Why do you think that I'm asking for your help in the first place! If I knew the sort of stuff that an old guy like Iruka-sensei liked then I wouldn't need your help. Would I?"  
  
Sakura drooped and gave the ground a Why-Me? look.  
  
Before a one-sided yelling match could erupt between Sasuke and Naruto. One-sided because Sasuke would coldly insult Naruto while Naruto did the actual screaming in return, a cheerful voice hailed them.   
  
"Hello Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Is Kakashi-sensei late again?"  
  
All of Team 7 turned to see the object of their discussion, standing close behind them.  
  
"Aahhh!" screamed Naruto and Inner Sakura. Sasuke willed his hand from clamping itself onto his chest in the attempt to calm down his rapidly beating heart. They hadn't even heard Iruka walk up to them.  
  
Iruka gave them a wide apologetic smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys like that."  
  
"You shouldn't do that to people!" yelled Naruto. He crossed his fingers behind his back in hope that Iruka hadn't managed to hear what they had been talking about.  
  
Iruka gave the team another apologetic look before looking around. "How long have you guys been waiting here?"  
  
"Over three hours," Sakura answered.  
  
"Forever!" yelled Naruto. His stomach growled loudly. "I'm so hungry." He gave Iruka a pleading look.  
  
"You're always hungry, idiot," Sasuke told the other boy. "Stop trying to get Iruka-sensei to buy you ramen."  
  
Naruto glared back, "Shut up! Bastard!"  
  
Sakura glared at Naruto for insulting Sasuke. Inner Sakura silently agreed with the blond boy that she could use some food. She'd only eaten a piece of toast this morning as part of a diet she was on but by now that toast had long since worn off. She could feel the rumbles in her tummy though they weren't loud enough for the others to hear, yet.  
  
Iruka gave them another smile, and reached into one of the pockets of his green flak jacket. He pulled out three energy bars and held them out to the three genin. "I know that this doesn't substitute as a meal but I don't think I should be taking you guys anywhere to eat if you were suppose to wait for Kakashi-sensei. Hopefully, this will hold you guys until you can really eat something."  
  
Eagerly, Naruto snatched one of the bars from Iruka's hand, barely giving himself time to rip off the wrapper before he wolfed down. Sakura followed closely behind, said thank you and daintily nibbled the bar. Iruka held out the last energy bar to Sasuke, who gave the teacher an evaluating look before reluctantly reaching for it.  
  
Naruto cheerfully chewed the bar, while beaming up at Iruka. This was the sort of small things that Iruka-sensei would do that endeared him to the blond boy. It just made him more determined than before to find something that would really make the man happy.   
  
"Trying to steal my students back, eh, Iruka-sensei?" called out a voice from above.  
  
At once all the four ninjas turned to look and saw Kakashi looking down upon them from the top of a light pole with one visible eye clearly showing his good humor.   
  
"Good afternoon, Kakashi-sensei," chirped Iruka.  
  
Sakura turned towards Iruka, the tone of his voice catching her attention. There was something very familiar in the way that Iruka-sensei had addressed Kakashi. She nibbled another bite of her energy bar as she tried to figure out what it could be.  
  
"You're late!" shouted Naruto up to the silver haired jounin.   
  
"Ah. Ah." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "I met this gorgeous babe in need of assistance. She was stuck in a tree!"  
  
"Liar!" screamed Naruto.  
  
Sakura's hand tightened on her bar as she watched the cheerful smile on Iruka's face drop, and the melancholy look creep into his eyes, even his shoulders slumped a little at Kakashi's mention of a 'babe'. Now she remembered where she had heard that tone of voice before. It was the very same one that she and a bunch of other girls got when ever they were talking to Sasuke. It was that same infatuated voice and 'I Love Just Being Near You' expression that showed up with it.   
  
Her free hand trembled at the realization that Iruka-sensei was completely head-over-heels in love with Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke's eyes flickered in her direction, then followed her line of sight to Iruka. A small confused frown tugged at his lips.  
  
Iruka shoved his sadness away and plastered a fake smile as Kakashi jumped down to join them. He silently admired Kakashi's strong body and its graceful twist as he hit the ground feet first. He even loved the way the messy spiked silver hair moved in the light breeze. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began to walk away from the quartet. He called out behind him, "I have some homework to grade. I'll see you guys later. If you guys aren't too exhausted I'll even treat to you ramen tonight."  
  
"Yeah!" screamed Naruto in joy. He raised hand and danced around as if in exuberant triumph of getting Iruka to buy them ramen. The blond completely ignored the fact that Iruka offered it out of his own free will.  
  
"Hey," Kakashi called out to the school teacher, "You can join us if you like."  
  
Not willing to turn around, Iruka waved a no. "Thanks for the offer but I've been putting off that work to do some chores all weekend. I really need to get it done!"  
  
Kakashi shrugged and turned to face his students. His keen eye noticed the way Sakura was staring after Iruka. He wondered if she was finally shifting her crush from Sasuke onto Iruka, who had more of a possibility of responding then Sasuke. Instantly, after that thought his breath hitched and an uncomfortable feeling settled inside him. He frowned, unnoticed under his black mask, and his gaze flicked back to Iruka's walking figure. The feeling dimmed away. Mentally shrugging at himself, Kakashi gleefully turned to today's torture of Team 7.   
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Eek! I hope no one was too OOC. I tried to keep them as I see them. Also sorry for anyone that doesn't understand the Japanese thrown in there. I felt that it needed to be used but I'm just too lazy to write up a translation list!  
  
*grins* So is anyone interested in reading more?  
  
If so post a review and let me know!!! 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really need to repeat this do I? I already said it in the first chapter. Repeating that I don't own Naruto just makes me want to cry……oh..great….*wails with pain* Noooo!  
  
Warning: *embarrassed laugh* Forgot to mention how fluffy the fic would get, err.. Pretty fluffy, but there will be some angst later….waaaayyy later!  
  
Rating: P.G.ish, for now *evil grin*  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: Hi again everyone!!! I wanted to wait a bit before posting chapter 2 but everyone posted such lovely reviews! I had to respond…. *giggles*…..how can I resist such pretty begging for more?   
  
Simple! I couldn't!!!  
  
Also, if anyone is wandering about the timeline, the story fits in after Haku and Zabuza and before the chunin exam.  
  
Ok, enough of the babble, ficcie down below!  
  
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Sakura stumbled away from the training ground. Sasuke and Naruto followed close behind, and were actually leaning on each other in order to keep from collapsing to the ground. Unvoiced, they were also there to catch Sakura if she happened to fall.   
  
Kakashi followed behind them in a more sedate pace. His exhaustion was evident by the half-mast status of his single visible eye. He didn't even bother to try to read 'Come Come Paradise', every time he tried the pages blurred. Kakashi let his feet carry him back to the village, while trying to maintain alert to any hidden danger. He only relaxed his guard when they were actually inside the walls of the village. But even then some part of him remained on guard.  
  
"Well, you guys look really tired." All heads slowly turned in the direction of the speaker to find Iruka giving them all concerned looks. He walked towards them until he was standing besides them and continued, "I don't suppose that you'd be up for ramen, then?"  
  
"Ramen!" yelped Naruto. In his enthusiasm he jerked away from Sasuke to jump up and down, nearly making Sasuke hit ground. The dark-haired boy have Naruto a half-hearted glare while wondering where in the world did the idiot get any energy. Kakashi has worked them harder than Sakura and their own competitive nature had them using their chakra to it's very limits in the attempt to outdo each other. He had to admit that the thought of food did give him a little energy.   
  
Even Sakura perked up a bit  
  
"I could go for some ramen." Kakashi told Iruka. "I warn you though, if I fall asleep then you'll have to take me home."  
  
Iruka blushed, a pink glow that spread itself across the scar on his nose, at Kakashi's words. He teased right back, "I think my bed barely has room for two people." He seemed to realize what he had said and slapped his hand across his mouth.  
  
Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Even Sasuke's mouth dropped at Iruka's words. They'd never heard Iruka-sensei say stuff like that! Sakura only looked triumphant, as if those words validated the thoughts she'd had earlier on how Iruka-sensei felt for the jounin.   
  
Kakashi laughed and slung an arm around Iruka's shoulder, causing the brunet to turn redder. "As long as I actually get some sleep at some point in the night," Kakashi teased back. By now Iruka was a weird crimson color, that should never be seen on a human face.   
  
Outer Sakura squeaked, and Inner Sakura nearly swooned at the very vivid image those words produced. Had she been a boy she would have been suffering from a severe nosebleed.  
  
Naruto's jaw actually seemed to be scrapping the ground before Sasuke reached over and lifted it closed with his index finger.   
  
"You'll catch flies that way, idiot." Sasuke said. Naruto snapped his teeth after the retreating finger in the attempt to bite his rival but Sasuke had read his intent and jerked it out of reach.   
  
"Ok. Let go," mumbled Iruka. He was torn between staying under Kakashi's arm and slowly dying as all his blood rushed to his face or pulling away and missing the weight of that muscled arm and it's heat on his neck and shoulders. Deciding that staying in his current position would only give his feelings away, Iruka pulled away and turned to his former students. He tried to ignore how cold his neck now felt and asked, "So, how was your training?"  
  
"Great!" Naruto beamed, "I totally kicked Sasuke's ass!"  
  
"You did not," growled Sasuke. "It took you forever to land one blow, dobe."  
  
Naruto stuck his tongue out in retaliation. Sasuke's glare intensified. Iruka just looked amused at the boys' eternal squabbling.   
  
Sakura was watching Iruka, she'd seen the way that he'd reacted to Kakashi-sensei and had been surprised that he'd managed to pull himself away from the other man. If it had been her under Sasuke's touch, nothing would have been able to drag her away from the boy. But then, she silently told herself, you aren't the one that's trying to keep your feelings hidden, are you?  
  
She turned to watch Kakashi-sensei and blinked in surprise when she noticed that the jounin was watching Iruka-sensei. He didn't even seem to be aware that he was watching every move the younger man made. Sakura moved slightly to the back and the side so that she could watch both men. She noticed that Kakashi-sensei made sure that he was never more than a foot from Iruka and that for every breath the school teacher took he simultaneously took one. A copy ninja even in how he showed he cared. Sakura couldn't help but feel amused.  
  
An idea began to percolate in the back of her mind. If Iruka liked Kakashi but wasn't willing to tell the other man how he felt, and Kakashi seemed to care for Iruka but didn't even seem to be aware of his feelings what had to be done to get them together? Especially, Inner Sakura pointed out, if one of that duo's birthday was coming up soon. The idea bloomed in her head, her green jade eyes began to gleam with unholy glee and her crazy smile returned.  
  
She had the perfect present in mind to get Iruka-sensei. But she would need the help of her teammates.  
  
As if realizing that Sakura was thinking about them, both Naruto and Sasuke paused in the middle of their squabbling and turned to look at the girl. They shuddered in synchronized terror, at the look on her face and instantly huddled together as if to find safely in the other's presence. They fervently hoped that she wasn't think of shopping again.   
  
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Iruka handed over the cash, for the ramen bowls they had eaten, to the vender. Then he turned to see all of Team 7 asleep on the wooden counters of the small ramen shop. He smiled at Sakura who leaned against Sasuke, who leaned onto Naruto, who in turned leaned onto Iruka's side. He looked over to his other side and saw the slow way that Kakashi swayed in his seat, obviously about to collapse into sleep.  
  
"Hey," Iruka whispered, "Don't fall asleep, Kakashi-sensei!"  
  
Kakashi seemed not to hear him because he slowly fell onto Iruka's shoulder. An arm curled around the brunet's waist. A slow huff of breath huffed against Iruka's neck.   
  
Iruka's blushed red at the feel of Kakashi against him. His skin's sensitivity increased. He was aware of every movement the other man made. In his mind, he saw himself sink his face into that silvered hair and just breathing in the man's scent. He could move Kakashi onto his lap and finally peel away that mask that was hiding a face he desperately wanted to see. He'd kiss those lips and confess his love.  
  
Iruka desperately shook his head in the attempt to get the images out, but they refused to budge. He wished that he wasn't in the middle of the ramen shop so that he could actually act out his fantasy. But however much he was enjoying having the other man near him, the ramen shop would soon close down for the night and they had to get the genins to their homes.  
  
"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi," Iruka hissed into Kakashi's ear. "Wake up!"  
  
Kakashi mumbled something that Iruka didn't catch and just snuggled into the chunin. Iruka rolled his eyes at his own happy feelings before resorting to extreme measures. He began to poke the silvered hair man.   
  
Poke. Poke. Poke.  
  
The last poke earned Iruka a giggle that just melted his heart at it's adorableness. He stared wide-eyed at Kakashi, stunned by the fact that the dangerous jounin was ticklish. A decidedly evil grin appeared on Iruka's face. He launched a full out attack on the jounin's sides.  
  
In seconds, Kakashi was laughing and struggling to wake up to defend himself. His own movements made him fall to the ground were he blinked up at a laughing Iruka while wondering what in the hell had just happened. He rubbed his sore ribs and figured out how he had been attacked.  
  
"You tickled me!" Kakashi said in an indignant tone.  
  
"And you feel asleep," Iruka told him, not wanting to mention that the jounin had used him as a pillow. "I had to wake you up somehow, since just calling your name had no affect."  
  
Kakashi's single visible eye widened in surprise. He'd actually fell asleep? He was stunned, it had been years since he had been able to relax his guard in another's presence to simply sleep without having any of his mental alarms go off. It was even longer since he'd slept through his name being called.  
  
Unable to think of something to say in retaliation, and partially because he was still half asleep, Kakashi just blinked at Iruka once again. "Oh," he said numbly.  
  
Iruka snickered, then told him, "Come on, Kakashi-sensei. I need your help to get these kids home."  
  
Kakashi looked at his students that were still sleeping, too tired to be awoken by the antics of the two adult ninjas.   
  
"I better carry Naruto and Sasuke," Kakashi said. Iruka gave him a questioning glance, and Kakashi silently pointed out something Iruka hadn't noticed. Sasuke, while leaning against Naruto, had developed a death grip on the other boy's arm and on the inside of the orange jacket. It didn't look as if he planned to let go anytime soon.   
  
Iruka smiled at the sight. He turned back to Kakashi to see the ninja pull out a small camera out of his pocket and take a picture of the two boys. Kakashi just grinned and said, "Future blackmail material."  
  
Iruka laughed at the image of a grown up Naruto and Sasuke trying desperately to gain the picture from chortling Kakashi. "I'm going to want a copy," Iruka said.  
  
Kakashi, who had been gloating over his camera, shot the teacher a surprised glance. "I didn't know that you were like that, Iruka-sensei. " He grinned underneath his mask, his eye curving to show his mirth. "I guess still waters do run deep, at least in your case."  
  
"No, no, it's not like that," Iruka shook his head in denial, a pink tinge returning to his cheeks. "I actually don't have that many pictures of Naruto and would enjoy to have one more." He rubbed the back of his head as he tried to articulate his thoughts, "I have the original graduation picture that he took and a few others of him when he was younger but I'm never really had one of him without him making some sort of weird face."  
  
Kakashi returned the camera to one of his pockets on his flak jacket as he watched the other man. "You really care about Naruto, don't you?" he asked softly.   
  
"Yeah," Iruka gazed at Naruto's snoring figure and smiled. "I know that a lot of people in this village wouldn't understand but he's really a sweet kid. He can be rude and crude but underneath that he's one of the most caring individuals I've ever met. I've spent so much time looking after him that he's become like a little brother to me."  
  
Kakashi felt a warm glow inside him as he watched the smile on Iruka's face. It had been so long since he had been willing to let anyone into his heart that he'd forgotten what it felt like to care for someone else so deeply. He didn't want to go through the pain of losing them all over again. He looked down at Naruto wondered at the caliber of a man that was willing to look after and love someone that held within them the cause of their greatest suffering. His respect and admiration for the other ninja rose several notches.   
  
Silently, still lost in thought over contemplation of the school teacher, Kakashi grabbed Naruto and Sasuke and tucked them under each arm. Across his chest, sprawled Sasuke's arms as he refused to let go of the other boy.  
  
Equally silent, Iruka picked up Sakura and settled her against his chest and arms, cradling her like a baby. The tender way that he held her gave Kakashi the impression that this school teacher genuinely cared for every single one of his students. His heart twisted at the sight, he felt jealousy, hot and fast, curl inside him. He wondered to himself at the cause of such a vicious feeling.  
  
"We should take Sakura home first. She lives closer to here than the others and her parent's are probably wondering about her well being," Iruka said, interrupting Kakashi's train of thought before he could delve further into his own feelings.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Poor Kakashi, no one expects dolphins to attack. *sniggers*   
  
So how was that? I hope that everyone enjoyed that chapter. I certainly enjoyed writing it!  
  
Yup! Sakura has plans, and she will get Naruto and Sasuke involved to their eternal mortification, but that will come later!  
  
I also promise that the next chapter will be longer.   
  
Ta da for now!!!  
  
Review to let me know what you think of chapter 2! 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer: it's in chapter 1  
  
Warning: Still fluffy…um psychotic Sakura? Oh, you'll see.  
  
Rating: P.G-13, I forgot that I should have updated it for the cursing…Oops.  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *stares stunned at the reviews* Oh wow. I was not expecting to get so many and such wonderful reviews. To everyone who said it: I totally agree that there aren't enough KakaIru fics in this world. *whimpers* More must be written!   
  
Also, it appears I have no self-control to resisting the pleas for the next chapter so that I can get more of this fic written. It's like a stick of butter having a close encounter with a blow torch! Argh! Oh well, at least this chapter will buy me a few days time to write more up!  
  
Quick Respond to Reviews [feel free to skip!]:   
  
Iceheart19- a little something, something seemed like the perfect way to start.  
  
esaure - Sakura did catch on kind of quick huh? *giggles* SasuNaru and KakaIru are yummy!  
  
Temari of Sand Village - Favs huh? *blushing* I hope you enjoy this chapter as much!  
  
Admiring Shadows - To quote one of my fave characters from TV - "Cute, I can do cute."  
  
Lady J- yes m'am! *writing*  
  
Jada Flame - I think that's a perfectly appropriate response. *grins*   
  
Keiko - *eyes wide with worry* Breathe!  
  
Zaeria - *grin* I'm called crazy all the time! Sakura plotting continues in this chapter! Hope you like!  
  
Smarty - Updating as promised!  
  
Ace and Avalon Hunter - Whew! Glad to know that no one minded the lack of translation. *grin* I'm glad you're enjoying my story so much!  
  
Deathwing - yeah, isn't KakaIru the best?! Do you think we could convince the U.N. that KakaIru is vital to world peace?  
  
Riachu64 - IruKaka, huh? *grins* We'll see. The story is still developing.   
  
Nicky - Hope you find this chapter as interesting as 1 & 2!  
  
evafreak - *salutes* Longer chapter as requested!  
  
Pixie - Hope you enjoy chapter 3!  
  
mel-chan - *yelps* Continuing, continuing!  
  
Bishiehuggler- Heh, dolphins can most definitely be devious and seme! *glomps back*  
  
Muchacha - Oh, Iruka is my favorite Naruto character! *hugs Iruka-plushie* I'll take care of him, that's a promise!  
  
Guesto-chan - hope you love this fic as much as other KakaIru fics!  
  
Zaeria - *laughs* Iruka being devilish made perfect sense to me. He'd have to have some sort of wicked streak to deal with all those students all the time! Glad you liked ch.2 so much!   
  
Naruke - Ah Shikamaru, my second fave character! *hugs* Sorry, you can't fit in the story!  
  
Though I'm glad to know that you like this story, Naruke!  
  
shadypony- I've never had anyone respond to an a/n before. *grin* I'm happy to know it made you laugh. Also, the thought of those videos did come to my mind after I wrote that note but my inner mental image was of Iruka jumping out of trees or something and huggling people then running away. Weird huh?  
  
Crescent - oooh! If you liked that part then you'll enjoy what's in chapter 3!  
  
zuchinni - Eep! Ok, ok!  
  
Vin - Plushies! *starry eyed* and cookies. How can I resist?  
  
saja - Chapter 3 is here! Go, read!  
  
Morien Alexander- *holds out pokeball* I've caught Morin Alexander! Yay! *thonk of random falling anvil* Oops, wrong anime! Does this mean I have to give you back?  
  
Neie - Whoops! Didn't even notice that!  
  
firedraygon97 - Glad to know you liked that line. It's one of my faves too! Also about the Simpsons, really? I don't watch them, but now I'm curious to see it!  
  
Amira Maxwell - No promises on the lemon scenes. *hums innocently*  
  
Rings Of Saturn - More fluffy SasuNaru? I'll see what I can do.  
  
Silver Dragonfly - Glad you enjoyed chapter 2 so much!   
  
Chibi0Dragon- Yeah, Kakashi will have plans for the pics.  
  
Silverewolf - More is being served!  
  
Ichiro-chan - Oh, yeah, Kakashi has denial of feelings issues. *fierce nod*   
  
Neokei- Ummm, would huggling my Iruka-plushie help? *hold out plushie*  
  
Anonymous - It's developing!  
  
Ayako - I think we all want copies. *looks around* I don't suppose there is an artist out there willing to draw it up?  
  
the Ghost of Jounochi - Hope you like this chapter too!  
  
Shinai - I think the fic would glomp you back but since it can't I will! *GLOMP*  
  
AsnGothic - *grin* I'm happy to know you're liking this fic.  
  
Ok, shutting up now. On to ficcie, downward and onward!  
  
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"Thank you for bringing her home, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei," a tall woman, looking very much like an adult Sakura, bowed her gratitude to the two men. She then took Sakura in her arms, holding the girl in a mother's loving embrace.  
  
Iruka gave her a wistful look, "You're welcome, it was our pleasure, Mrs. Haruno. Good night."  
  
"Good night." Sakura's mom closed the door.  
  
Iruka glanced at Kakashi and saw the older man looking at him. He had to fight the blush that threatened to rise to his face and swiftly distracted himself.  
  
"Has Sasuke let up on Naruto yet?" Iruka asked Kakashi, while carefully looking at the two genin.   
  
"He's still holding on with all his strength," Kakashi said dryly. "How are we planning on separating them?"  
  
Iruka chewed on his lip as he thought. While he knew the addresses of his former students, due to needing to send reports home, he'd never actually had to visit Sasuke's house. On the other hand, he did have a key to Naruto's home, given to him by Naruto so he could water his plants whenever the boy was away in a mission. With it they could just visit Naruto's house and leave both boys there. The problem, arose from having to separate Sasuke from Naruto, and both of the boy's reactions when they woke in the morning if the teachers failed to split them.   
  
Iruka explained that to Kakashi, who laughed at the image. "It would give me the opportunity to get more blackmail material." Kakashi's eye turned up, happy and sparkling.  
  
Iruka couldn't help but laugh at Kakashi's joy at getting something on his students. He shook his head and followed beside him as the jounin sped up, eager to get his pictures. They swiftly arrived and entered Naruto's home. Inside, Iruka nearly cracked his head against the floor as he tripped over some scrolls when he tried to find the light switch.   
  
With the light on, the two ninja's quickly and safely navigated to Naruto's bed room. Kakashi settled both boys on the bed and pulled out his camera. He snapped away like a person possessed. Iruka, smiled at the maniacal look in the man's eye and sat down on the foot of the bed. He slowly took off each of the boys' shoes and outer gear. He made sure to take off their forehead protectors and keep each pile separate, so when they boys woke they'd be able to distinguish whom owned what.  
  
Watching Iruka's actions, Kakashi suddenly got an idea. If Naruto and Sasuke could sleep while being manhandled then it would be rather easy to move both into 'interesting' positions.  
  
"What are you thinking?" asked Iruka, wondering at the speculative look in the man's eye.  
  
Kakashi held his index finger up to his mask to silence Iruka. He crept up on the boys and shifted them around. He set Naruto so he sprawl on top of Sasuke, with his arms wrapped around the dark-haired boy's waist and his mouth pressed against the other's cheek. He took several pictures of this adorable scene from various angles before shifting them around again.  
  
Meanwhile, Iruka had his face hidden in his hands, trying desperately not to laugh or scold Kakashi for his actions. He felt guilty on what he witnessing being done to an unsuspecting Naruto and Sasuke but he was also enjoying the fun Kakashi was having. Iruka consoled himself with that thought that he would offer to buy both of the boys ramen at some later date as an apology. Though he'd never tell them why he was doing so.  
  
He peeked through his spread fingers to see Kakashi taking pictures of a Naruto that was sitting on Sasuke's lap. Sasuke's head tilted forward of if he was kissing the top of Naruto's hair and the blond boy was snuggled under Sasuke's chin with a hand loosely holding onto the brunet's blue shirt. He knees were tucked in and his free arm curled around Sasuke's waist. During all the movements Sasuke still maintained his tight grip on Naruto.   
  
Emotionally caught by sweetness of the scene, Iruka could stand no more, "Enough, Kakashi."  
  
Reluctantly, the jounin snapped one last picture and moved the boys apart on the bed. Iruka tucked the blankets up to the boys chins before tiptoeing out of the room. Kakashi was already outside and leaning against the wall. His exhaustion and sleepiness had returned with a vengeance.  
  
Iruka stopped in front of the jounin. In concern he asked, "Are you alright, Kakashi?"  
  
"Tired," was his reply.  
  
It was a good thing that Iruka was standing so close to Kakashi because after saying he was tired the jounin began to fall to the ground. A quick acting, and bewildered Iruka caught the other man. By Kakashi's soft deep breathing, Iruka realized the other man had fallen asleep.   
  
He just stood there, stunned, with his arms holding the object of his desires and affection. He slowly sank to the ground, and pulled Kakashi onto his lap. He remember his brief fantasy at the ramen shop. He breathed in the scent of Kakashi's hair. The scent was purely Kakashi, since ninjas had the habit of using scentless soaps and shampoos so they didn't give their position away to sensitive noses.   
  
He slowly petted the soft silver hair, intrigued the lack of hair gel to create the spikes. He wondered in Kakashi used some sort of hair jutsu to make it so gravity defying. His hand drifted down to the mask, and remembered the dream of peeling it back, kissing the man and telling Kakashi how he felt. Hovering over the black mask, Iruka was torn. He had been dying forever to know what lay beneath the man's mask but now that he had the opportunity he hesitated. The vulnerability the jounin was exposing to Iruka made the school teacher want to protect him. He didn't want to take advantage of Kakashi.   
  
Iruka dropped his hand to his leg and closed his eyes to block the captivating view of Kakashi in his lap. He knew that if he exploited his advantage, saw the other's face without his consent and the jounin found out about it then there would never be any trust between them. He could satisfy his curiosity and potentially lose the other man forever. Or he could resist the urge and be patient that one day Kakashi would willingly lower his mask so that he could see all of the man without any barriers.   
  
Iruka tried to image how he would feel to have Kakashi unmask himself for him. He could see the silvered hair man slowly reach up and pull back the black material from his face. His eyes would be smiling and glowing with emotion. Then he'd see the man's entire face.  
  
Breathing out and shaking, Iruka opened his brown eyes to stare at the ceiling. He'd felt so much joy at mentally seeing Kakashi lowering his mask with his own hand, that now he knew that he would be happier to just wait until Kakashi decided to reveal himself. Iruka could never make himself steal the man's privilege to decide who to share himself with.  
  
Iruka thought, he would just have to wait until the man was willing to trust him enough. Iruka looked down and swiftly dropped a chaste kiss below the jounin's visible closed eye. He then pulled the other man over his shoulder and stood up. As he walked out of Naruto's house, he visibly staggered every few steps. Kakashi was a lot heavier than he looked, thought Iruka in amazement. If had to be all the muscle he felt under the man's uniform.  
  
Iruka shifted mental gears and tried to figure out what he'd do with an unconscious gorgeous jounin. He manfully ignored the lechery parts of his mind that were willing to offer several 'helpful' suggestions. He could try to take Kakashi to his home, or rather he'd would, if he actually knew where it was located. Or he could take Kakashi to his own house, like they'd joked about earlier today. And, irregardless of his earlier comment, the only way his bed would fit two people was if they were laying atop one another. Iruka wasn't willing to test the boundaries of his self-control by spending the night so close Kakashi. He could give the older man the bed and collapse on the couch. He wouldn't have the best time sleeping or feel terribly rested the next day but at least temptation would be out of reach.   
  
He was lucky that his class tomorrow was primary lecture, and with a small demonstration near the end of class. He had a feeling if he had to show some complex move he'd make a fool of himself before all those kids. And the little hellions would never let him forget it.  
  
He opened the door to his house while using his other hand to hold Kakashi in place. Iruka walked swiftly to the bedroom, carrying Kakashi was making his shoulders ache, and gently set the jounin on top of the bed. He did the same thing he'd done for Sasuke and Naruto. He removed all the outer gear, carefully setting the flak jacket with the scroll holders next to Kakashi so the other man would have easy reach if he happened to awaken some point in the night. He also removed the sandals, and inner jacket. He left the man clad in his pants and black inner shirt. And of course the mask.   
  
Iruka debated removing the forehead protector with the Konoha leaf sigil. He knew that Kakashi wore the protector in that fashion to hide the Sharingan eye and prevent the overload of information that having it constantly exposed would do.  
  
After finding out who would be taking Naruto as a jounin instructor, Iruka has spent a lot of time talking to various chunin and jounin that knew the man. He had even made a point of asking the Hokage about Kakashi. He had learned a lot of interesting things, though nothing too personal from all those sources. Iruka had also learned about the Sharingan eye implanted Kakashi's left eye. And how when the jounin had first received it he'd nearly gone insane with from the constant flow of information, and the way the eye could see below the surfaces of most facades. Apparently, those with Uchiha blood also had their brains wired in a specific way that allowed to use the Sharingan without being driven mad by it. It had been something that hadn't been known before, since Kakashi was the first recipient of a transplanted Sharingan. It had been pure luck that Kakashi turned out to be one of the few non-Uchiha to have a similar mind to a member of that clan. Had the man been any different then he would not have survived the surgery. Only by covering the Sharingan whenever it was not in use did Kakashi prevent his descent into madness. It was after learning this that Iruka began to admire Kakashi even though he still hadn't met the man. The strength of will shown in staying sane under such harsh conditions took his breath away.  
  
Iruka shook himself out of the memory and remembered that he had a black silk scarf, given to him as a gift a few years ago, and thought that it would be perfect to cover the Sharingan eye.   
  
It took Iruka just moments to find it. Swiftly, he replace the protector with the scarf. Now Kakashi would be more comfortable in his sleep. He set the forehead protector on top of the flak jacket and walked out of his room, careful to silently close the door behind him.  
  
Yawning, feeling immensely tried by the small roller coaster of emotions that he'd dealt with, Iruka walked over to a closed door and pulled out a spare blanket. He undressed, being careful to leave his weapons within easy reach and stretched out on the couch. For once, he thanked whoever had seen fit to make him an average height, because on the couch only his feet dangled off.   
  
With one last yawn and a sleepy look towards the closed door that let to his bed room, Iruka drifted off into a dream-filled slumber.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
The next morning when Sakura woke up she was bewildered over how she ended up in her own room and wearing her favorite pair of pajamas. The last thing the pink haired girl remembered was eating the ramen that Iruka-sensei had bought for the whole team. She didn't have any memory of going home.  
  
She grimaced in disgust at the feel of fuzzy film over her teeth.   
  
"Oh, yuck," she said, and hurried towards the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she went through the automatic motions of cleaning her mouth, Sakura's mind drifted to yesterday and the situation with Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. Her green eyes lit up as she also remembered her idea for getting the two men together. Inner Sakura did a quick dance of joy.   
  
She had to go talk to Sasuke and Naruto.  
  
She quickly finished her teeth and ran to her room to get dressed. She spent only half an hour getting ready, and considering that she was planning on seeing Sasuke that day, that was a very fast dressing speed. Still running she went to the kitchen to grab a piece of toast. She chewed the toast quickly, nearly choking on it, as she screamed goodbye to her mom.   
  
As Sakura headed towards Naruto's home, she rushed by the few people who actually enjoyed being awake at such an unholy early hour of the morning.   
  
Outside the door of Naruto's home, she paused to catch her breath and look tidy. Then she knocked. She frowned when no one came to answer the door. Sakura knocked with more strength. Still no one came. Finally her patience snapping, she began to furiously pound on the door.  
  
"Wake up, Naruto!!! Wake up!" she yelled. "Damnit Naruto!!! You're the one that asked for help in the first place!!! WAKE UP!!!!"  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Inside, a still sleeping Sasuke and Naruto vaguely heard the first knock on the door. The sound pushed them out a pleasant dreams and with each consequent knock they grew more and more awake. Until Sakura's fierce screaming made them open up their eyes.  
  
They woke to find each other no more than a couple of inches away. Ebony eyes and pure blue eyes widened in shock, both boys leapt apart and screamed!  
  
"Aarrrgggh!!!"  
  
"Aarrrgggh!!!"  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Outside the house Sakura's jade green eyes widened as she heard twin screams from inside Naruto's home. She frantically began looking for a way in. Focusing her chakra towards her feet she ran up the wall to find an open window.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
"What are you doing here?!" yelled Sasuke and Naruto at each other.   
  
Naruto looked around desperately and yelled, "This is my room, asshole!"  
  
Sasuke gave the unfamiliar room a bewildered look. He yelped, "What am I doing here?!"  
  
"That's what I want to know!" Naruto yelled back.  
  
"Shut up!" Sasuke glared. "I'm trying to think!"  
  
"Good luck," snorted Naruto.   
  
"Last thing I remember is eating ramen," Sasuke said coldly, ignoring the blond. He had backed up into a corner away from Naruto and was tensed to move if the other boy made any threatening move. Not that he would blame him if he did, thought Sasuke, considering he was in Naruto's room without his consent.   
  
The word ramen sparked a chain of memories in Naruto.   
  
"Oh yeah," Naruto said. "Iruka-sensei offered to buy us ramen. I remember eating 2 bowls!" Naruto's drooled over the memory of the most delicious food in existence.  
  
"I also remember feeling sleepy," Sasuke said, trying not to make a disgusted face as Naruto's drool that began to drip onto the blankets.   
  
Naruto snapped out of ramen heaven, "So we must have fallen asleep."  
  
"And either Kakashi-sensei or Iruka-sensei took as home."  
  
"And," Naruto said softly, "Iruka has a key, so he can get in without any trouble." Naruto jumped to his feet and glared at the ceiling. He shook a fist in anger.  
  
"Just watch them wait, I'll get them for leaving you here!" Naruto plopped back onto the bed and crossed his arms. He scowled as he plotted ways to have revenge on both teachers. He wouldn't let them get away with this.  
  
Both boys jumped as the bedroom door burst open with a bang and Sakura stood there, staring at both of them. Her green eyes took in the undressed state of both boys and the obviously slept in bed. Her quick mind came to the fastest, most logical conclusion of what the boys had been up to.  
  
"Sakura!" said Naruto in panic. He shot Sasuke a desperate look before turning back to Sakura. He frantically waved the his arms in front on him as he watched Sakura's face get dark and scary. "It's not what it looks like."  
  
"Naruto," intoned Sakura in a deathly voice, "What were you doing to Sasuke?"  
  
"Nothing," squeaked the blond. Sasuke just looked as cool and detached as ever.  
  
Sakura formed a fist with her right hand and used the left to crack her knuckles. Inner Sakura was giving bloody suggestions on what to do to Naruto for spending the night with Sasuke. She advanced on the blond boy, who looked frantically around to find an escape route. The only window was 'conveniently' blocked by Sasuke. The brunet closed his eyes as if in deep thought, though in reality he didn't want to see a strong ninja get massacred by a girl. Even if she was a tough ninja in her own right.  
  
"It wasn't my fault," wailed Naruto, in one last futile attempt to dissuade his homicidal teammate.  
  
Once again the peace and silence that reigned early in the mornings of the Hidden Leaf Village was shattered by screams.   
  
Minutes later, Sakura sat outside in the living room on a chair. She was carefully wrapping her right hand in medical bandages and ignoring the blond boy on the floor who continuously moaned in pain. Poor Naruto, had vividly colored lumps and bruises all over his face, even his 'whisker' scars weren't visible under all the damage.  
  
Sasuke, finally getting tired of Naruto's complains, reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a medicinal cream used to prevent infection and accelerate healing. He silently handed it to the other boy, who upon receiving it, looked extremely startled.  
  
"It will make you heal faster. Don't waste it," said Sasuke. He returned to his seat near the open windowsill and went back to staring outside.  
  
By the time Sakura had finished the first aid to her torn knuckles, and Naruto had spread the cream on his wounds, the girl's rage had all but vanished. During the bandaging she'd had time to revert to her earlier mood and idea for getting Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei together.  
  
"I think I have the perfect gift for Iruka-sensei," she finally spoke, breaking the silence that had befallen the room.  
  
"Yeah?!" screamed a happy Naruto. He seemed to have forgotten about his earlier plans to get back at the teachers for leaving Sasuke with him all night. "What?! What?!" he asked eagerly. "What is it? Is it food? Will he love it? Can we go get it know?" With each question the noisiest ninja in the village grew louder and bouncier. He was incapable of retaining his excitement.  
  
"Idiot," interrupted Sasuke, "Let her speak."  
  
Naruto stuck his tongue out in retaliation for the insult. It nearly drove him crazy to admit it to himself but Sasuke giving him that medicine made him feel more forgiving to the boy's insult.  
  
Not bothering to be subtle, Sakura asked both boys, "You guys know that Iruka-sensei is in love with Kakashi-sensei, right?"  
  
In his shock, Sasuke lost his balance and fell out through the window.   
  
Naruto's eyes rolled back and he swayed as if he'd keel over in a faint at any second.   
  
Sakura gave Naruto an annoyed look and then yelped as she noticed the lack of Sasuke in the room.  
  
  
  
"Sasuke!" she screamed and ran over to look out the window. Sakura looked down and caught a heated glare sent up to her by Sasuke. The boy was attached feet first to the wall of the house. He had used his quick reflexes to turn so he would be facing in the right direction while simultaneously concentration his chakra to his feet. He walked up and climbed back inside. He gave Naruto a worried glance. Neither of his teammates noticed Sasuke's expression. Sakura was still annoyed at the blond and returned to glaring at him.   
  
Naruto was sprawled on his back, dazed and confused. He stared at the ceiling as if he'd never seen such an amazing sight. Over and over Sakura's question circled his mind. He couldn't believe it. Iruka, the only person who'd ever paid attention to him as he grew up over the years, in love with Kakashi?   
  
"But they have nothing in common!" protested Naruto.   
  
"How can he, and him?" Naruto waved his arms in the air as if trying to force his thoughts into visual shapes. "What would Iruka see in him?"  
  
"Other than he's a strong ninja, extremely loyal to his fellow ninjas and this village, and good looking as much as we've seen?" asked Sakura. She shrugged, "How would I know? I haven't asked him. Love works in mysterious ways." She snuck Sasuke a look.  
  
"But-," Naruto said as he pushed himself to his feet to look at Sakura, "Kakashi is always late, he always lies about why, he's always wearing that mask so he could be really hideous, his sense of humor is just too weird and from reading that book, he's also got to be a total pervert!"  
  
Sasuke silently agreed with Naruto. He really couldn't see why the school teacher would see in someone as odd as Kakashi. However, Sakura's observational skills and logic reasoning surpassed his own. So if there was any one who would be able to see something developing between the two men, it would be Sakura.   
  
"You don't believe me?" Sakura was dismayed. She didn't think that the boys wouldn't believe her about what she had seen.  
  
"It's not that I don't believe you," Naruto tried to reassure her, "It's just that I'm having a really hard time imaging Iruka-sensei in love with anyone! Let alone Kakashi-sensei."  
  
"Oh," Sakura tried to think of plan. "What if-," she said hesitantly. "What if I could show you what I saw? How I see the teachers interacting, would you believe it then?"  
  
"I think so," Naruto agreed. He looked over to see Sasuke back on the windowsill and staring outside. "Hey, Sasuke! What do you think?!"  
  
"I think we should trust our teammate, dobe."  
  
Sakura's eyes filled with pink hearts at the expression of trust from Sasuke. Inner Sakura began cheering and waving fans in absolute joy. The pink haired girl's face took on a blissful look as she silently planned her wedding to Sasuke and the names of all the children they'd have.  
  
Sasuke slowly inched away from her.  
  
Naruto just sulked, so he didn't notice how the brunet had moved to put him between Sakura and himself. Once behind his blond shield, Sasuke relaxed.   
  
"I still like to see some proof," muttered Naruto. His words snapped Sakura out of fantasy world where she had been counting her number of grandchildren.   
  
"Actually," she admitted, suppressing the urge to snarl at Naruto for interrupting her lovely daydream, "that wouldn't be a bad idea. We should follow both of them whenever they interact, so you guys can see what I mean. Also, I really want to be sure. So I want your verification."  
  
"You want us to follow Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei around," Naruto's voice was full of disbelief. "Kakashi-sensei is a jounin! And Iruka is chunin. Both are higher than genin! Do you really think they wouldn't notice us stalking them?!"  
  
"For once the idiot is right," Sasuke said. "If we did that and they caught us what would we say to explain ourselves? It's not like we could tell them the truth."  
  
Sakura's head drooped forward. She hadn't thought of that. And it would be disastrous if the older ninjas noticed what they were doing. It would spoil everything that she was planning.  
  
"Unless," Naruto said. Sakura's head snapped up in hope. "Unless, we can tell them something else. Something like that we're following them as a training exercise. To practice our ability to sneak around, and after ninja that are have more training and experience."  
  
Sakura beamed at the blond. "That's perfect, Naruto!"  
  
The boy blushed at her rare praise. He shot Sasuke a look to see if the boy had noticed but Sasuke's face was as implacable as ever. Naruto's blush turned to a flush of anger at the way the other boy ignored his great idea.  
  
"So if we do agree with your assessment, what do you have planned?" asked Sasuke. "And how will that help in getting Iruka-sensei a birthday present?"  
  
"Well," said Sakura, while Inner Sakura rubbed her hands in anticipation, "I was thinking that we could…."  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Suddenly, the bright morning of the village was interrupted for the third and final time as two male voices shouted in disbelief, "YOU WANT US TO DO -WHAT?!"  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Ooh, Kakashi, you're terrible, doing that to your poor, helpless, defenseless students!  
  
Heh, Iruka is waaayyy too honorable for his own good. Lucky Kakashi! Though unfortunate for us. *sighs*  
  
Oh, Sakura can be sooo violent. Poor Naruto.   
  
Whoops, didn't mean to almost kill Sasuke. *evil grin*  
  
Hope everyone enjoyed the longer chapter.   
  
*looks around frantically* Don't kill me Neokei! *hides in bushes*  
  
*sign pops out and reads: Review to let me know what you think of it so far!* 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Disclaimer: it's in chapter 1  
  
Warning: The fluffiness grows…errr, this fic is unbetad? Also, a western breakfast.  
  
Rating: P.G-13  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Another chapter is here! Brought to you by the letter I for Iruka!   
  
Hope everyone likes this chapter!   
  
For everyone who wanted to know what Sakura was planning. This chapter is not it. Oops. *screams* Don't kill me!  
  
  
  
******************  
  
In a dark room, pale hand twitched as if reaching for and throwing a knife at the muffled sounds of rattling cooking ware that filtered through the wooden door of the bedroom. When the noise failed to end in a swift and bloody death, a single blue-gray eye slowly opened. The bleary look vanished instantly as the owner failed to recognize his location. Faster then the normal human eye could follow, the silver haired ninja was standing up and behind the most defensible position in the room. He looked extremely confused as he noticed that whatever enemy ninja had captured him had seen fit to not only provide him with a rather comfy bed but had also set his weapons and clothes within easy reach.  
  
The final clue he received that he was 'not' captured by an enemy was the framed picture of Naruto and Iruka set on a small table next to the bed. Naruto was sticking his tongue out while grinning and crossing his arms, his hands in rude symbols. Iruka was trying to bring down Naruto's arms, and a small scowl twisted his mouth. Only if a person looked into the light brown eyes would he or she have seen those eyes sparkling with good humor.  
  
Kakashi turned to his stuff and quickly got dressed. When he caught sight of his forehead protector, his hand instinctively went up to cover the Sharingan. The jounin found the black material on his face and pulled it off. It was a scarf.   
  
Kakashi was amused by this proof of Iruka's mother-henning behavior because most people wouldn't have thought to replace the forehead protector. They would have assumed that he would be so used to constantly wearing the protector that he would even wear it to sleep.   
  
He paused to wonder if the other man had also opened his mask. Kakashi slowly checked the hidden fastenings of the mask. He was loathe to mistrust Iruka but he knew that there were many people that were willing to go to great lengths for the littlest of peeks. He relaxed when his fingers found the fastenings still in the specific pattern he always set them in. Iruka had resisted the urge to lift his mask. The jounin could hardly believe it, he was completely blown away in amazement.   
  
He stared at the black woven scarf in his hand as he tried to figure out why the other man hadn't tried to use his advantage against him. He had been so tired, since the day before he had spent it on a important mission that no other jounin was available to take, that last night that he wouldn't have noticed if Naruto had burst into an off-key song next to him. He was glad that Iruka was a trustworthy person but just didn't get why.  
  
Kakashi ruefully told himself that if the situation was reversed then he would have pulled back the mask. Once again in less than twenty-four hours, the jounin found his respect for Iruka raise several more notches.  
  
It was getting to the point that he was having more respect and trust in the chunin that he was in himself, Kakashi admitted. He didn't know how to feel about that.   
  
The jounin was distracted from further mental musings by the scent of something delicious coming from the kitchen. His stomach rumbled as if demanding that he hurry along so it could get food.   
  
He walked out of the bedroom and headed over to the kitchen, before reaching it though he caught sight of the living room and the messy state of a blanket on the couch. At least now he knew where Iruka had spent the night. He felt somewhat guilty over kicking the other man out of his own bed and resolved to find someway to make up for it. After all Iruka hadn't asked to have a jounin fall unconscious on him.  
  
He peeked over the entrance to see Iruka wearing a plain white apron, with the words 'KISS THE COOK' printed in bright red, over his clothes, flipping a pancake into the air and onto the thick stack behind him. Soon a second pancake came flying over and landed on the an empty platter, a third and fourth pancake stacked neatly on top of it.  
  
Kakashi's visible eye widened at the amount of food on the table. Not just the pancakes, but there was also a huge jug of maple syrup, two plates with eggs and bacon as well as a basket full of various fruits. There was even a chilled pitcher of orange juice next to two empty glasses on the table. His stomach gave a loud rumble that caught the attention of Iruka.  
  
"Good morning, Kakashi," said Iruka, cheerfully. "I hope you slept well."  
  
"Yeah, um…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about falling asleep on you and forcing you out of your room."  
  
"Don't worry about it," Iruka smiled at the jounin and waved at the food. "Have some breakfast!"  
  
"That's a lot of food," said Kakashi.  
  
Iruka flushed, and admitted, "I woke up earlier than I planned so I decided to make some breakfast, then I got a little carried away."  
  
Kakashi's eye curved up in joy, "I can see that. By the way, nice apron."  
  
Involuntarily, Iruka looked down at his chest and felt his cheeks heat up again. He hadn't even noticed with apron he'd chosen to wear. Naruto had given this to him as a joke because he would always be feeding the boy something. Or at least trying to make him eat. He reached up to his neck to pull it off when a gloved hand stopped him.  
  
The chunin looked up in surprise to see Kakashi standing inches away. Iruka was too startled to jerk back. The silver haired man was still smiling, then he bent closed and pressed a kiss on Iruka's cheek, before he darted away to the table. Iruka stood in place, stunned, with a hand clasped to his cheek. That the kiss was pressed through the jounin's mask and didn't actually involve any physical skin contact, though the lack didn't affect his reaction to it. Suddenly, the apron that he usually had shoved to the back of his cupboard and ignored, became his favorite one in the world.  
  
Kakashi looked back to see that Iruka had not moved from his spot and felt a slight blush on his cheeks. He mentally thanked that the mask that made the redness hard to see. He didn't know why the urge to kiss the other man had cropped up, all he knew was that he had to follow through. Kakashi called back to the teacher with a teasing tone of voice, "Sorry about that Iruka, but I just had to obey the apron."  
  
His words snapped Iruka out of his bewildered state. He was able to gather his wits about his enough to tease right back, "Oh, so the great Copy Ninja Kakashi has an exploitable weakness? The unstoppable urge to obey aprons?" Iruka laughed, "Now I'm the one that has great blackmail material."  
  
Kakashi laughed with the chunin. He admitted to himself that at this very moment, here in this strange kitchen, he was happier than he had been for a very long time.   
  
"Let's eat," he suggested, eager to try the tantalizing breakfast.  
  
Iruka carefully turned off his stove, and put the dirty pan in the sink before joining the other man. He sat at the table and pulled out a newspaper being careful to spread the pages in such a way so he could eat with one hand, and not be able to accidentally peak over at the jounin.  
  
Kakashi was bemused by Iruka's actions. He could tell that it was a deliberate and considerate action, designed to give him the chance to eat without accidentally revealing his face to the other man. He picked up the amber colored syrup and completely covered the pancakes to the point that they floated on a sea of sweet and sticky liquid. The jounin happily dug in. Iruka had managed to stumble onto one of his most favorite of foods.  
  
The only sounds the filled the kitchen were those of food being chewed and swallowed and the occasional rustle of page as Iruka read the articles in the paper. Kakashi had to force himself to slow down at several points through out the breakfast. He was so used to eating quickly that he normally didn't take the time to enjoy the taste of each bite. It had been too long since he'd had such a tasty home-cooked meal that he wanted to savor all of it, but all too soon he finished. He refastened his mask and rubbed his full belly, every inch of him radiated happy satisfaction.   
  
"That was delicious," said Kakashi. "Thank you. You didn't have to cook for me."  
  
Iruka waved a piece of bacon in the air as if to dismiss the thanks. "You were my guest," he said, still behind the newspaper, "I would hardly be good host if I let you leave without feeding you." It also allowed him to show off his culinary skills without being too obvious of trying to discover if Kakashi was the sort of man who's route to his heart lay through his stomach.  
  
"You can look now," said Kakashi. Iruka looked over his paper to see Kakashi's eye curved with happiness.   
  
Iruka flushed, "Was I really that obvious?"  
  
"As easy to read as my favorite book!" Kakashi joked, and got an idea. "Speaking of which, I was thinking of getting you a copy of it as a thank you!"  
  
Iruka blanched. He hated that book with a passion. "Err.. Thanks but no thanks, Kakashi. I…I really don't read 'those' kind of books."   
  
Kakashi was crushed, he had always hoped to find someone to share his favorite books with. Iruka had seemed like the perfect person to share it with.  
  
Iruka noticed his pained expression and tried to placate him.   
  
"I wouldn't object to getting another history book to add to my collection of things I use to teach my classes."  
  
Now Kakashi looked horrified. He was giving the chunin the chance to get a entertaining book, like 'Come Come Paradise', and the man wanted a HISTORY book!  
  
"Boring!" he shouted and leaned over into Iruka's face. Iruka leaned back.   
  
"Hey," protest the brunet, "I happen to like history books."  
  
The disappointed look that Kakashi sent him made him squirm. He hated to see it on the face of someone whose opinion mattered to him.   
  
"Your getting a fun book," insisted Kakashi.  
  
"It's been ages since I haven't bought myself a book to read simply for fun."   
  
"Then it's long overdue," Kakashi sat back, satisfied. "And you're still not buying it. I am."  
  
Iruka gave Kakashi as suspicious look. He may have a huge crush on Kakashi that clouded his thinking in regards to the man but that didn't mean that he trusted the jounin not to buy something really perverted. "If you're going to go to a bookstore, I'm coming with you."  
  
"Let's go now!" Eagerly Kakashi stood up. He was ready to head out.  
  
Iruka didn't move from his chair. He just looked amused, and Kakashi sent him a puzzled look. "I have to had over to the academy to teach my students," Iruka reminded him. "Also, don't you have a mission with the team today?"  
  
"Oh, yeah." Kakashi blinked, "I forgot."  
  
Iruka snorted as he tried to suppress the bubble of laughter in his throat. "How about we meet after our previous engagements."  
  
Both ninjas agreed to meet later in the day outside the biggest bookstore in the village.   
  
Iruka was so busy enjoying his meal with Kakashi that he almost failed to notice the time on the clock on the wall. When he finally did notice, his brown eyes widened in shock. He apologized to the jounin for running out as he frantically gathered the materials that he needed for his class. Iruka nearly forgot the stack of graded papers that he'd completed the previous day until Kakashi handed them to him.  
  
He gave the man a grateful look and nearly ran out the door when Kakashi's arm shot out, grabbing the back of his flak jacket.  
  
Iruka nearly choked due to the sudden stop and turned to glare at the jounin, who just smiled and pointed to the front of his clothes. The brunet looked down and was stunned to see that he was still wearing the 'KISS THE COOK' apron. Blushing, he peeled it off. He thanked Kakashi for noticing and this time ran out the door without interruptions.  
  
Kakashi stood in the silent kitchen while trying to decide what to do next. He could always meet up with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura but he suspected that if he showed up on time he'd give them all heart-attacks. He consoled himself with the thought that if they freaked out they wouldn't be any good on the mission. So the best thing to do, for the well being of his students, was to arrive as was his usual habit, late!  
  
He snapped his fingers as memory of his students triggered the recollection of all those pictures he had taken the night before. He should probably go get them developed while he still had a chance, and before he forgot again.   
  
Kakashi began whistling cheerfully as he jumped up to the roof of Iruka's house and started jumping towards the location of the only camera shop in the Hidden Leaf Village. It was owned by a family, three generations, all obsessed with photography. Not only were they famous photographers of various styles but they also sold equipment, cameras, film and for a nominal fee developed the film for customers.   
  
The head of the photo-clan, Shashin, was well known to Kakashi. He'd been the one assigned to take Kakashi's genin graduation picture, and nearly every successive picture of the jounin since it. Kakashi fondly recalled the shouting matches they got into every time the old man would try to convince him that the only way to take a good head shot was without his black mask.   
  
Kakashi had yet to lose an argument. Never mind, that he usually won by creating a shadow clone, knocking the old man out and taking the picture himself.   
  
Arriving at the photo shop, the jounin stopped and shaped his hands into a seal. With a puff of chakra smoke he vanished, only to reappear on top of the sales counter inside the store.   
  
"Aarrrgggh!" yelled the poor cashier at Kakashi's unexpected arrival, as he fell back onto the wooden floor.  
  
The cashier, a thin, dark haired, and serious looking young man, glared up at the jounin. He yelped, "Don't do that!"  
  
The silver haired man raised a hand in greeting. "Morning, Firumu!"  
  
"Oh gods, not you," moaned Firumu, as he picked himself up. He then looked around desperately. "Do you know what Father would do if he saw you here?"  
  
"How is Shashin?" asked Kakashi, as he hopped off the counter and headed for a display of film canisters.  
  
"He was fine," the young man said sarcastically, "I don't know whether that'll continue to be true if sees you."  
  
"What are you talking about," Kakashi asked cheerfully. "That old man loves me."  
  
"Loves the thought of killing you," Firumu contradicted the jounin. "He has practically declared kill-on-sight orders to the entire family, in regards to you.'"  
  
Kakashi just smiled cheerfully, his eye curbing his it's customary manner. "What a kidder! Tell the old geezer hello from me."  
  
Firumu stared in disbelief at the other man, then let his head hit the counter with a loud thump. He repeated this motion a couple more times before starting to mumbling 'kill me now' over and over again.  
  
Kakashi ignored him. He picked up various kinds of roll of film, including a special kind that used chakra to activate it. He quickly picked what he wanted then slowly browsed the rest of the store, deliberately trying to drive the young man at the counter insane. When the muttering transformed to occasional pained whimpers, Kakashi decided to move on. He didn't really want to explain to Shashin, how he had managed to snap the mind of his youngest son.  
  
The jounin dropped his purchases next to Firumu, who leapt upon them as if they were his last hope of salvation. The young man quickly rang up the price and told Kakashi, who forked over his cash. Firumu was practically ready to shove Kakashi out the door when the jounin remembered the film he wanted developed. The poor cashier nearly tore out his hair as he gave the back of the store fearful glances.  
  
Kakashi spread out a small fan of three film canisters. "Can you have these done by later today?"  
  
"Yes! Yes!" Firumu told him frantically. "Anything! Just get going!"  
  
"Ahh, such friendly service," Kakashi grinned. "I really have to let your boss know how much I enjoyed shopping at your store."  
  
Firumu turned paper white.  
  
"Just kidding!" Forming a seal, Kakashi vanished from the store. The jounin still had one more place to visit before he met up with the genins.  
  
"What's that noise? Are you giving a customer a bad time, Firumu?!" yelled a gravely male voice from the back of the store.  
  
"No, father!" Firumu shouted back. He said, quite honestly, "There's no one in the store!"  
  
The stressed young man collapsed to the floor and shook with relief. That had been too close for his comfort. He swore that next time he would get one of his older siblings to take over the morning shifts, it was the only time Kakashi ever visited.   
  
He whimpered as he remembered the three rolls of film waiting for him on top of the counter. He leapt up to give them looks of wide-eyed terror. That meant that the jounin would be returning, at some point this very same day. And he had promised to cover that shift for his sister!  
  
Firumu resumed his earlier action of continuously knocking his head against the counter.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Ahhh, lucky Iruka. *giggles*   
  
Kakashi sooooo in denial!   
  
Umm, if anyone cares Firumu means film in Japanese while Shashin means camera [thanks rain-streaked, i was too lazy to double check and obviously my memory is sucky]. Oh, and Shashin is not the guy who took picture of Naruto….err..that's Firumu's uncle…yeah…that's it.  
  
Review to let me know what you think of this chapter! Should there be more? *innocent girl bats eyes* 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Disclaimer: it's in chapter 1, and not going anywhere so go mosey over and read it if you want!  
  
Warning: Umm… the torment of small furry animals?…errr… Hentai!Sakura?   
  
Rating: P.G-13  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *JD crawls on elbows and knees, battered and beaten* Oooh, now I know how Naruto felt like with Sakura brought the smack down on him. *eyes wide* I was kidding about the no more ficcie thing. *begs* Please don't kill me! I'll be good!  
  
*beams happily* I'm so happy to see that everyone enjoyed that last chapter so much!  
  
I'm also very glad to know that Firumu and Shashin were enjoyed by you guys! *huggles creations* You'll be seeing them again!  
  
To anyone who enjoys KakaIru or I should say IruKaka go read Jada Flame's Punctuality, a hella yummy fic! And review to beg for more!   
  
Oh, shutting up now. Go on, read the ficcie…you know you want to….RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!!   
  
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Naruto could barely look at Sakura as the team stood around waiting for their teacher to show up. Every time he did he got nasty flashbacks on this morning and the so-called plan.  
  
Kakashi was late, as usual, though this morning it was actually a relief. The whole team had left Naruto's house rather late. They gotten so caught up in talking and planning that it was only when Sasuke noticed the position of the sun did they realized they were nearly an hour overdue for the rendezvous with Kakashi.   
  
The blond boy was still thinking of the plan: 'Get Kakashi for Iruka', that the girl had thought up. It was twisted, it was scary, it was so desperate that it could actually work. But that wasn't what really worried the boy. No, Naruto was more concerned with how the plan would affect Iruka if they didn't manage to succeed. He didn't want one of his favorite people in the world to be hurt, in any way. And if Iruka was in love with Kakashi and Kakashi rejected him. Naruto winced at the thought. The blond hoped that Iruka would forgive him. He wouldn't be able to stand it if the school teacher never spoke to him again.  
  
They had decided that only if Sasuke and he agreed with Sakura's observation would they then follow through with the plan. If even one of them disagreed about how the two teachers felt about each other then they would abort their self-imposed mission.   
  
They also planned that at some point during their 'C' class mission, either Sasuke or Sakura would make a point of mentioning how Naruto needed to improve his stealth skills, while being careful that Kakashi overheard. That would establish an excuse they could later use if the jounin caught them when they followed him around.   
  
Naruto had at first protested over having them say that he was the one who needed to improve until Sakura reminded him that it would be true! And if he tried to say the same thing about Sasuke or her, then Kakashi would know that they were up to something. Sasuke had just given him that look that clearly said the same thing, with an insulting 'idiot' at the end.  
  
They also decided they would spent most of the day getting used to tracking Kakashi's movements before Naruto would leave to try to lure Iruka near the jounin. They planned to use their communicators to coordinate their locations so that they wouldn't let the older men miss each other.  
  
Naruto finally glanced over at Sakura. He really, really hoped her plan worked.  
  
"Ready to go?"  
  
Though used to the abrupt way Kakashi would greet them when he finally arrived, Team 7 still jumped at the sound of his voice. Naruto plastered an innocent expression on his face that just earned him a suspicious look from the jounin.  
  
Kakashi gave a mental shrug. If Naruto had pulled any sort of prank then he'd hear about it later, usually straight from the mouth of the angry, screaming victim. Cheerfully he asked, "Are you ready for today's mission?"  
  
"Yeah!" yelled Naruto, as always full of excitement.  
  
Sakura just smiled, and Sasuke remained expressionless.   
  
Swiftly, Kakashi pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and read the contents. He declared, "For our mission today we need to weed and water a garden."  
  
"WHAT?!" screamed Naruto. He pointed at Kakashi and continued to shout, "You told us this was a class C mission! Not a class D!"  
  
Kakashi rubbed the side of his ear, as if clearing it from Naruto's yell. "It is a class C mission."  
  
"It doesn't sound like it," said Sakura. Inner Sakura was cursing viciously. Even Sasuke looked annoyed at the thought of such a low ranking mission.  
  
"Oh it is a class C, it was almost ranked as a B class," insisted Kakashi with his eye curved up in happiness at being able to tease his students. "The garden is owned by one of the most wealthiest of families in the village. They are collectors of various animals and they keep them in a special garden. So it's full of different types of animals, including some dangerous and fatally poisonous ones. You'll even need to watch out for some of the plants."  
  
At the thought of danger, Naruto cheered. Sakura rolled her eyes at the exuberance of the blond, and Sasuke just watched him bounce around like a blue and orange, blond haired rubber ball.   
  
"Let's go!" Naruto screamed.  
  
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Later, in the assigned garden, Kakashi was up in the largest tree, from which he could see all around. Though the name garden was a misnomer, it was more like a small, wild forest park only some of the cultivated plants allowed the name garden to be used. From his location, Kakashi could track the movements of his student and react quickly if he had to lend them a hand.  
  
Below him, his students were trying to catch all the animals to store them in designated cages. The family that hired them wanted the animals caged first so that they could be taken care of by some vetinarians that would arrive after Team 7 completed it's mission. Kakashi hadn't lied to them about the job, they were suppose to clear the land of foreign vegetation that were toxic to some of the animals and care for some rare plants that needed special minerals to grow healthily.   
  
Team 7 had been running around trying to catch all the animals in the park for just a short time and were finding it to be harder than they expected. Naruto, especially, was having a hard time catching anything, even a rather fleet footed and rare type of rabbit, with antlers similar to those of a deer, that was teasing him. The blond had sworn to capture it after it had snuck itself on top his head and thumped him with its big feet.  
  
Sakura and Sasuke had already managed to capture a few animals, varying from the nearly extinct saber toothed tigers to koalas to a pair of giant land turtles. Every once in a while Sasuke would insult the other boy, distracting Naruto and making him lose sight of his bunny target. Which makes the boy scream in rage at the brunet before they resume their work.  
  
Kakashi sat on a high branch with his back against the trunk of the giant tree. His favorite book in the world, 'Come Come Paradise' was pulled out and in his hand. But for some reason this morning Kakashi didn't have much interest in reading it. Instead, he kept drifting back to that morning and his breakfast with Iruka.  
  
He couldn't stop thinking of how nice it had been to have someone to talk with in the morning even if all they did was joke around. It made the beginning of the day bearable. It had been so long since he'd just relaxed with someone without it involving work. Frankly, Kakashi found it amazing that Iruka could inspire such trust in him.  
  
Kakashi admitted to himself that he probably wouldn't have looked twice at the chunin if Team 7, specifically Naruto, hadn't forced them to interact. He wasn't proud at the realization that he probably would have dismissed Iruka, as just another chunin teacher, and never bothered to get to know the other man better.   
  
Absentmindedly, he pulled out a kunai from his holster and began to spin it in mid-air. Every other second the jounin would reach towards it to give it another fierce spin adding to it's momentum. Soon the razor sharp knife was spinning so quickly that it seemed to be hovering in place. Kakashi soon added another kunai to join the first. The silver haired man wasn't even aware of what he was doing since this was an odd habit he had gotten into as a kid to help him think.  
  
He mentally promised that he would ratify his mistake of ignoring the chunin. Since they were spending the evening together he would take the opportunity to learn more about Iruka. He was really looking forward to it. Iruka intrigued him, though he couldn't really lay a finger on exactly why he did. Spending time with the younger man was bound to solve that mystery, Kakashi thought.  
  
Suddenly, his finely honed sense of danger triggered wild mental alarms and even before he'd completely realized it, the jounin was moving. Kakashi grabbed one of the spinning knives and sent it towards Naruto. The boy barely got the chance to yell as he noticed the kunai flying toward him. The blond cringed, shutting his bright blue eyes, as he expected the knife to sink into him.  
  
THONK!  
  
Naruto instinctively looked behind him. There on the trunk of a tree was a large black and red snake with its long, and dripping yellow fangs caught on the knife. The bile colored venom slid along the knife and as hit the ground it sizzled with white smoke. The blond boy gaped at it. He hadn't even sensed the snake crawling behind him.  
  
"Eh, Naruto, a ninja needs to be aware of his surroundings at all times," Kakashi called down to Naruto. Sasuke popped his head out of a nearby bush, badly startling Naruto, and gave the other boy a look that was calling him an idiot for nearly getting bit. Sasuke then grabbed the still living snake to take it back to its cage.  
  
Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sasuke. Sasuke gave him another cold look and vanished back into the green-gray leaves of the bush. Naruto began to mumble to himself about an 'evil bastard' though no one that overheard him would have been able to tell if he meant his teammate or his teacher.  
  
Kakashi hid his happy eye behind his book. While, he wished that Naruto was more attentive to hidden or not so hidden dangers, the interactions between Sasuke and Naruto never failed to amuse him. It was obvious to anyone watching Sasuke, that he was always keeping a concerned eye on the blond. Sasuke spent more time watching Naruto and what he was doing then he did anyone else but the other boy never noticed any of the attention. Usually because Sasuke distracted him with a carefully timed insult. The jounin couldn't wait to see how Naruto would react when he finally realized what Sasuke was doing.  
  
He gave Naruto an amused blink before Kakashi drifted back to his thoughts of Iruka. He wondered about what kinds of books interested the man. He hoped they had similar tastes, or at the very least they didn't hate each other's tastes so they would have something to talk about other than just Team 7. It wasn't until he began planning where they would to eat that evening that Kakashi stopped to wonder at his own thoughts. He was actually shocked at his deep interest in Iruka's friendship. He hadn't had a close friend for so long that he had nearly forgotten what it was like to have one. Since, he had lost his best friend, he hadn't wanted to get close to anyone. In fact, it had been years since he had made the effort to get to know someone outside of a mission. Kakashi frowned in thought and wondered what it was about Iruka that made him forget all of that past pain and want to spend time with him?  
  
Kakashi was distracted by a brief frustrated scream. He looked down from his branch to see Naruto chasing a brown and white furred blur. The blond kept trying to catch the animal, and kept missing by the smallest of distances. In a final lunge to catch his prey, Naruto propelled himself forward with a large burst of chakra. The clever rabbit sensed Naruto's increased speed and matched it and once again the boy missed his target. Naruto ended up plowing straight into the grassy ground. Sakura dropped next to Naruto's still body. Face first on the ground, the blond groaned in pain and frustration.  
  
"You need to increase you stealth skills," scolded Sakura. "Otherwise you'll never catch it."  
  
Kakashi peered over his book at his students. He thought that the pink haired girl had a good point. As the noisiest ninja in the village Naruto's ability to sneak up on people, and bunny-rabbits apparently, was rather pathetic. He could use his speed to get close to someone during a battle but sometimes the ability to silently observe and gather information was more essential to a ninja than needing to launch a surprise attack.  
  
Kakashi's eyes flicked back to his book. He would need to implement some sort of stealth training program for his students at some point this week. Sasuke wouldn't need much help to improve, and neither would Sakura, who learned quickly and had excellent control of her charka. But Naruto, Kakashi mentally winced. Getting Naruto to be silent for great lengths of time would require more patience than he had, even on a good day. Maybe he could ask for tips from that last person that had managed to pound anything into Naruto's thick skull. Iruka.  
  
With that line of thought, the jounin once again returned to thinking about the school teacher. The chunin was bound to know some tricks to teaching Naruto. Hopefully something other than just feeding the boy ramen. Bribing the boy's stomach would untimely leave him bankrupt, thought Kakashi wryly. He couldn't see how Iruka had managed to afford it for all these years.  
  
His mouth dropped in shock as he realized that he was once again thinking about the school teacher. He could barely believe himself. The silvered haired man resumed his habit of kunai spinning, still deep in thought. Part of him wanted to run away as fast as possible from the potential pain Iruka represented, but a large part of him also wanted to stay close to the man and get to know him. He admitted to himself that he wasn't sure what he should do.   
  
He was still thinking as his right hand caught the hovering kunai and sent it flying in the direction of another of his students. He looked down and froze.  
  
Barely an inch from Sasuke's twitching hand lay the knife, driven point first into the green grass. Sasuke was like a stone statue, cold and immobile before turning, as slowly as a glacier, to glare up at his teacher. Sasuke's target had been the odd rabbit Naruto had sworn to catch. Alerted by the thrown kunai, it leapt free into the air. At least until two orange clad arms reached up and caught it.  
  
"Yes!" screamed Naruto in triumph. "I got you now Mister Rabbit!"  
  
"Oops," said Kakashi to himself. He called down, "Sorry about that Sasuke!"  
  
Sasuke continued to glare up at his teacher, his eyes hardening into black ice. He had made a bet with Naruto that he would be able to catch the weirdly intelligent, antlered animal before the blond but Kakashi had spoiled his trap. Just as he was about to capture the rabbit-creature and win.  
  
"I won! I won! I won! Now!" Naruto spun around to point at Sasuke with an arm, the other still clutched the slowly suffocating bunny. "You have to do what I say. 'Anything' I say," the blond let loose an evil cackle. "For TWO days!"  
  
Sakura dropped out of a nearby tree. She glared at Naruto, angry that Sasuke had lost to the annoying blond. Memories of that morning were still vivid in her mind. "You better not make Sasuke do anything perverted," growled the pink haired girl, her eyes snapping with green fire.   
  
"Urk," said Naruto, shocked to the bone. He gathered his wits and yelled, "What kind of boy do you think I am?!"  
  
Sakura yelled back, "Don't you think I know what you were doing to poor Sasuke this morning!" Inner Sakura provided hentai images, full scale and in color, of the two boys. In them, an evil and lecherous Naruto was taking advantage of a sweet and innocent Sasuke!  
  
"I wasn't doing anything," Naruto yelled back, desperate to let the girl know that he wouldn't do anything with that cold bastard. Let alone anything perverted, "I told you! That wasn't my fault."  
  
Next to them, Sasuke had quit glaring at their teacher and was slowly turning a pale coral pink at Sakura's words. He didn't even want to imagine what sort of things Sakura thought Naruto and he were doing that morning. He just knew they had to be really bad. Completely nose-bleed bad. He ignored the tiny corner of his mind that cheered on that line of thinking.  
  
Sasuke sighed, he also felt annoyed because now that he was in the mercy of Naruto and he didn't know how he would be able to escape any embarrassing situation that the blond boy would think up. There was next to zero chance that Naruto would let him escape unscathed. He just hoped it wouldn't turn out to be too bad. He brooded on the sort of things that Naruto could come up with.  
  
Suddenly, Naruto howled with pain as the rabbit bit him. Upon dropping it the creature immediately darted away. The blond boy immediately pursued, screaming at it to come back.  
  
Above his students, Kakashi was curled up on his branch silently howling with laughter at the image of Sakura busting in on Sasuke and Naruto in bed together. His branch shook, the leaves vibrating, from the force the jounin exerted in trying to prevent the laughs from escaping.   
  
This is great, he thought to himself. He couldn't wait to tell Iruka what had happened. He knew the other man would get a kick out of the situation the boys were in. He could just imagine those brown eyes sparking with laughter.  
  
Once again even his entertaining students couldn't prevent Kakashi's thoughts from circling back to his real interest: Iruka.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Geez, Kakashi aren't we a bit obsessed. *rolls eyes* But then I shouldn't say anything, I'm just as equally obsessed with Iruka!  
  
*big grin* Can anyone guess what the antlered bunny is? I just couldn't help myself! *giggles*  
  
Yah, I know that the bet with Sasuke losing is a bit cliché in Naruto fics but it's not really going to be focused much in story. Though if enough people want I may write a side-story to this fic to expand on it, later…a lot later. *stared at hands* My poor fingers and I still need to finish this ficcie first!   
  
Oops, nearly forgot, for those wanting to read the next chapter be sure to check for this fic as an R-rated fic….and no…I'm not explaining… *evil smirk*  
  
Don't forget to review!!! Reviews make this author's will to resist updating quickly crumble like a cookie! 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Disclaimer: I may not own Naruto but I'm willing to pay money to own Iruka! Or if not him…Shikamaru?  
  
Warning: Umm…made up jutsu….& pervy mental musing of a love-sick dolphin? ….oh, a lemonish/lime scene ...err.. hint of angst  
  
Rating: R, for sexuality…though the rating should probably be higher….*sweatdrops*  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *eyes wide* Whoa, look at all those reviews. *teeters in shock* To everyone who reviewed! THANK YOU!!!!   
  
I also wanted to dedicate this chapter to Spencerblaze-sama, who wrote me a lovely fic titled: 'Kakashi's Move' a while ago [I was going by JadeDragon then…before I found out someone else on ff.net was using the same name] and I wanted to show my complete appreciation. *repeatedly bangs head on floor* I'm not worthy!  
  
Also, everyone who guessed Jackalope for the bunny creature, you are RIGHT! And you can hug my Iruka-plushie! *holds out plushie* Or if you like, my newly arrived Sasuke-plushie *holds out sasuke*  
  
*sign pops out of nowhere: Now we return you to your regularly scheduled chapter*  
  
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In class that morning, Iruka was equally involved in thinking about Kakashi. Fortunately for him, he had more experience in keeping those thoughts off his face and out of his tone of voice as he lectured to his class.   
  
He had spent all morning explaining about the different variations of jutsus and how the differences were influenced by the genes and personality of a ninja. He lectured, "Charka, is created within the body. It is the mix of body energy and spirit energy. Everyone has it but only some people are able to access their charka and use it to perform jutsus when they are trained." The children looked bored at his explanation since it was something that they had all heard before.   
  
Iruka ignored their yawns, and continued, "There are some of you that have parents that are ninjas, and already know jutsus that run in your family. Those of you from such families have a skill and in a battle it can give you an edge because normally no one else would have learned to use such skills."  
  
Several of the kids perked up. The idea of the skills they had learned since before they could walk, and had long thought of them as games, could actually be used in combat excited them.   
  
"But there are also those of you who are the first in your families to be accepted into the Ninja Academy," said Iruka calmly, amused at the sight of those kids drooping in disappointment. "You shouldn't feel left out. That just means that you will be the one to figure out what sort of skills best fits you."  
  
"Today I'm assigning a different sort of homework." At the words, homework, several of the kids groaned. "Now, it's not that bad!" Iruka laughed. "I want every student from a ninja family to pair up with someone who isn't from a ninja family. Your will be spending time with each other and your families. The partner from the ninja family will try to understand what characteristics does your family and you possess that allows you to produce a certain type of skill. And the student from the non-ninja family will do the same, but your job will be to figure how those characteristics will allow you to form a jutsu tailored just for you."  
  
The kids from non-ninja families looked excited at the thought of developing a new skill.   
  
"The reasons you'll be having partners is because sometimes an impartial eye can see things that you miss because you are too familiar with them." Iruka smiled. "Your partner will be your extra set of eyes and they will also have to observe your family and help you with your mission."  
  
The students burst in to wild chatter, already trying to figure out their partners.  
  
"Now," Iruka motioned them to silence, "Because developing a jutsu is hard work, you will all have an entire month to do this assignment. Also, remember that I will be available to help so if any of you get stuck or have any questions feel free to see me during or after class."  
  
Several little faces reflected relief. A few still looked worried because the thought of having a classmate meet their families was just too embarrassing.  
  
"Now the bad news," Iruka said trying to stay serious, "This work is a partnership. So both partners will be given one joint grade upon the completion of a five page report on the their families as well as the development of a jutsu. Now, I don't expect a super-jounin level jutsu so don't waste all your time trying to develop one, but I do want to see a skill that is useful and fits your family."  
  
"Iruka-sensei," a tiny voice called out.   
  
"Yes, Lotus?" Iruka asked to a thin, green haired girl.  
  
"What is your family jutsu?" she asked curiously. She was hoping to get a clue in how one's skill fit the caster.  
  
Iruka had been expecting that question, so the flash of grief at remembering his parents failed to show on his face.   
  
"My family's jutsu, involves water." Making an odd hand seal that left his forefinger curled over this thumb, Iruka focused his charka. Instantly, he was surrounded by differently sized bubbles filled with water, they floated all around him. Iruka continued talking, "My own personality allows me to add a twist." The floating water-bubbles changed to various colors and began glowing with inner light.  
  
"Oooh," said all the kids, impressed by all the colors and light.  
  
"It's so pretty!" exclaimed Lotus in delight. She hadn't been expecting anything so spectacular.  
  
Iruka laughed at that, and sent each student a bubble so that they could look at it. He knew that he could hold up the bubbles for several hours on end before the drain on his charka grew too severe.   
  
Each child eagerly held up their hands so that their bubble plopped right on top. Several kids giggled at the squishy feel of it, others jiggled the bubble to see the water and light swirl around. A couple of boys, were holding their bubbles as if ready to toss them at the groups of girls cooing over their own.  
  
Iruka caught their movements out of the corner of his eye, and to the boys' dismay the chakra water bubbles vanished from their hands. They looked at the teacher to see him giving them a disapproving glare, in turn the boys had the grace to look ashamed.  
  
Iruka shook his head in exasperation. There were times that he envied the teachers that only had to teach the girls the aspects of being a female ninja. Teaching a class with all girls had to be less stressful than dealing with some of the more troublemaking boys, he thought. Little did he know that those same teachers often envied his mixed class.  
  
A tug at his hand caught Iruka's attention. He looked down to see Konohamaru with a sad expression on his face. The brown haired boy, grandson of the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, asked softly, "What if you don't have much family?"  
  
Softening, Iruka knelt down next to the boy. Seriously he answered, "Then you will have to look at yourself and to the memory of your parents to help you. Your parents are within you and that will show up if you look for it."  
  
Konohamaru looked somewhat reassured and went back to his friends with a spring in his step.  
  
Iruka sighed at the memory that his words evoked, it had been the same ones that the Third Hokage had told him when he had tried to figure out how to work his family skill. Before his parents had been killed by the Nine-Tails Fox Demon he had just begun learning it but had never finished. After their deaths, Iruka had grown determined to learn the family skill as part of a personal memorial to honor his family, but he had been having a hard time of it to the point that he had been ready to give up when the Hokage had stumbled across him. The Hokage had been to one to tell him that his parents' blood ran in him; they would always be part of him. No matter how much he missed them, apart of them would never leave him.  
  
Since then, Iruka had held those words close to his heart. For the next years, whenever he feel himself descent into despair and grief over the loss of his parents, he used those words as a shield to protect himself from such negative feelings.   
  
It had helped him. He had been able to refine the family skill beyond that which he knew his parents had used. Just calling up a chakra bubble filled with water would seem like a rather useless skill except when one realized that the bubble would easily be materialized right onto a person's head. It was nearly impossible to remove so that the victim would swiftly drown. It was one of the most undetectable forms of assassination since removing the bubble would make the chakra created water in the lungs vanish. Only complete lack of markings of on the body and that the death was suffocation would clue in a clever investigator that the killer was a ninja.   
  
Over the years, Iruka had also learned that he could manipulate the shape of the sphere so that it resembled shurkiens or any other sort of weapon. The bubbles would harden into a variety of shapes and could slice through many different materials. He trained himself to hold the shapes even as he slept, though that drained him faster than if he remained awake.   
  
The aspect of the light in the water bubbles had been a surprise and completely accidental discovery. It had been during a mission as a genin that he found it out. He had been stuck in a cave for several hours and had been in desperate need of light to see his way out. Iruka had called up a water bubble to reassure him, since the feel of one of them in his hands always calmed and relaxed him. Apparently his desire for light had influenced his charka in the bubble, causing it to glow with a warm golden light. Later he learned that the difference was a result of his own personality traits. Though he still wondered what calling light meant about him since no one could explain it.  
  
Currently, what he was trying to get the bubbles to do was to help him fly. Since the bubbles would float and move around still in mid-air, Iruka had thought that they would also be able to carry him. He had practiced carrying various things atop them. The only problem that arose when he did that was that he could only manifest a few of the chakra-bubbles at the same time, which wouldn't be good in a combat situation where potentially he would need at many as possible.   
  
His control of his chakra had improved to the point that he had practiced standing on a flat disk version of the water bubble. It had taken him a few tries but the disk would allow him to hover a few feet off the ground while simultaneously moving even though the current speed was rather slow. Another drawback to using his chakra to support him in the air was that it used up his energy faster than if he was just on the ground and that much chakra use would be too easily detectable to enemy ninjas. So at the moment he would only use it in a dire situation where he would need to be in the air.  
  
The chunin's current goal was to get the disk to carry him at least several hundred feet in the air, while moving at a speed faster than a rapid walk. He wanted a speed that would be faster than that of an elite ninja traveling at top speed on the ground. Iruka assumed that this was the first skill that allowed a person to fly since he had never heard of a jutsu that could mimic flight with the caster as the one in the air.   
  
Right now though, he didn't honestly care whether or not that was important, all that mattered to him was the hope that Kakashi would be impressed if he ever learned about his skill.  
  
Iruka sighed to himself, he knew that his obsession with the older man bordered on the pathetic, and sat down at his desk. He let the kids continue to play with the bubbled water as he pulled out the papers that he had graded the day before. He set them on the desk, being careful to check that they were in alphabetical order, so that when the kids left they would be able to swiftly and easily find their work.  
  
His light brown eyes drifted to the clock hanging over the exit. If Kakashi remained true to form then he wouldn't arrive at the bookstore for at least a few hours after mid-day. He would have time to eat something and clean up the mess he had left in his kitchen. He would also take a quick shower. He never got the chance to bathe yesterday and his lack of hygiene was really bothering him.   
  
He didn't want to meet Kakashi without having the chance to look good. He mentally thanked the fact that he didn't have to worry about picking out a set of clothes to wear to impress the other man. Iruka knew that his personal sense of style was atrocious. Wearing his ninja uniform saved him from looking foolish before his crush.  
  
He fervently hoped that today their friendship would have the chance to develop. They really only knew each other as teachers and while last night and this morning was a good start towards having both of them develop tighter bonds, actually spending the day together would make that connection deeper. The only drawback that worried him was that it could also be the day that destroyed all hope of something more between them. Iruka fretted that the jounin would find him to be too boring to spend more time with him.  
  
The click of the nearby clock caught his attention. The class time was almost up. He cleared his throat to catch the attention of his students, "Alright everyone, you have five minutes to chose your partner if you don't already have one." Some of the kids were still too focused on the water-bubbles, so Iruka gently pulled them back to him. He ignored the disappointment on his students' faces as he canceled the chakra.   
  
"Once you have chosen your partner please come up together so that I can keep track of who is partnered with who," Iruka continued. "And when leaving, please be sure that you pick up your graded homework." He pushed the stack forward so his class knew where to look. "To everyone that did well, congratulations. Those that didn't do so well, next time take the time to STUDY!"  
  
"Yes, sensei!" the kids called back and ran to other classmates to chose partners. Before too long they had paired up and were chatting with their partner, making plans to meet and begin to work on the assignment. Soon, they were stopping by Iruka's desk to pick up their graded homework. Iruka had to suppress laughter at the faces some of them made at finding out their grade. He also made sure to write down the names of the partners.   
  
"Iruka-sensei?" Lotus asked softly. She'd been waiting for the chance to talk to the teacher. She had already told him who her partner was.  
  
Iruka looked up from his list and gave the girl a smile. "What can I help you with Lotus?"  
  
"I just wanted to say thank you. Your water-bubbles were great!" Lotus gushed. Her cheeks pinked with her excitement.  
  
Iruka just thanked the green-haired girl before she grabbed her paper and left the class. She was the last student to leave. Iruka thoughts returned to Kakashi as he gathered his supplies. He wanted to run out of the class so that he could get to his home faster, but concern over his image as a teacher made him slow down.   
  
He hoped that he would be able to learn more about Kakashi during their time together. The things that he didn't know about the man, and no one else was willing to talk about bothered him more than Iruka cared to admit. The only problem was that he knew that some there just some questions that were too personal to be asked, at least at the current level of a relationship that they shared but he was hoping that the jounin would share them without having to be asked. Though, Iruka didn't really think that it was likely to happen.  
  
Iruka was so intent on finally being able to concentrate entirely on Kakashi that he didn't notice how he had picked up speed and was jogging all the way home. He also didn't notice the surprised expressions on the people he swiftly passed by nor the way whispered that sprung up in his wake. When he finally became aware of his surroundings he was inside him home.  
  
Iruka gave his living room a bewildered look. He shook his head and set about cleaning the mess from this morning just in case he and Kakashi ended back here again. He blushed to himself at that thought. He knew it was impossible but he couldn't help but hope that they did end up spending the night together.  
  
The chunin silently scolded himself. Iruka knew that it would be a miracle if the jounin bothered to spend any more time with him after he bought whatever book they ended up choosing. As a jounin, especially one in charge of Naruto and the others, Kakashi was bound to have a much busier schedule than a simple chunin school teacher.   
  
Iruka was distracted out of his depressing thought at the sight of the dried remains of the morning's breakfast. He grimaced at the sight and shoved the dishes and utensils into the sink to soak in a warm water. He would finish cleaning them later especially since he didn't think he would be able to remove the dried syrup without resorting to nin-jutsus to help him out.  
  
The chunin laughed at himself and headed for the shower. The urge to get himself clean was irresistible. He was careful to set the flak jacket, full of the ninja scrolls outside on a hook. While the scrolls were steam, mud, and other substances resistant, Iruka didn't want to risk any sort of accidental damage done to them.  
  
In the shower, he silently stripped off his uniform, letting the material pool to the floor. He pulled of his hair tie, and shook his hair loose. The dark strands tickled his neck and shoulders. It was a fairly unfamiliar sensation since Iruka normally kept his hair up in his usual style.   
  
Before he walked into the shower stall, his face, reflected in a mirror, caught his attention.  
  
Iruka paused, and carefully looked over his features. In his opinion, it was a fairly unremarkable face, only the long scar across the upper bridge of his nose saved it from being completely forgettable. His eyebrows were thin and dark, his eyes were light brown, his mouth wasn't too small or too big and his ears fit him perfectly and lay flat against the sides of his head. Only the smooth way that his cheeks flowed along his jaw and into the shape of a firm chin kept him from looking overly masculine or even too feminine.   
  
Iruka shook his head and thought, even his hair was a completely ordinary brown color  
  
He sighed in disappointment. This was why he had recently developed a mild hatred of all mirrors.  
  
Before his feelings for Kakashi had developed, Iruka won't have cared how he looked to others. He just thought of his face as his face, same way that his nose was only important because he needed to breathe through it, but now? Now, he it bothered him that he was too boring to look at to catch the eye of the silver haired jounin. Especially one that was so well traveled and had met so many different kinds of people, that a common looking guy wouldn't be at all interesting  
  
Iruka impishly made a face at his reflection and finished getting undressed before heading into the shower stall. He knew he sometimes acted like a teenage school girl with her first crush and whenever he caught himself at it he forced himself to stop. His feelings for Kakashi drove him to the edge of sanity, Iruka thought to himself, he didn't need any help in getting there faster.  
  
He turned the knob on the shower. Iruka gasped in shock as the cold spray of water hit his naked body. He cursed fervently. He always forgot to let the water heat up before he got in. He cranked the knob of hot water up and his mild shivers lessened as heat seeped into the water.  
  
As he let the hot water pounded away the tension that always developed after a day of teaching, Iruka let himself drift away in thought and as always his mind turned to it's favorite obsession - Kakashi Hatake.   
  
***********Author here! Sorry to interrupt but this is the part that gives this fic it's R rating so if you don't want to read it just skip down to the author's note in the end. Don't worry you won't miss anything vital ^^! *********************  
  
He recalled the man's vivid pure scent. It was a smell the would be carved into his memory until the day he died, Iruka thought seriously. This triggered the memory of how he had learned the scent in the first place. Instantly, he remembered holding Kakashi's gorgeous body in his arms. He shivered as he felt himself hardening.   
  
He licked his lips, tasting the clean water and tried to figure out if he had the time to indulge in a brief fantasy about the jounin. Then he shrugged to himself. He knew if he didn't let loose some tension he was likely to give away his attraction to the other man. Part of his mind laughed at him for coming up with such a flimsy excuse.  
  
Iruka closed his eyes as he pictured kissing the silver haired man. Both of them would be naked and in the shower together. He would wrap an arm around the other's slim muscled waist and pull him close. Kakashi would hold him just as closely. Their naked bodies would twine around each other.  
  
They would kiss slowly, letting each kiss grow hotter. Their tongues dueling and exploring every inch of the other man's mouth.   
  
Iruka would feel a caressing hand move from his shoulders and down his back. Kakashi would kiss down to his neck, lightly biting at the thin delicate skin his collar bone. Iruka's spine flexed and he ground his growing erection against the other man's. Kakashi's firm pecs made a wonderfully soft and solid surface to rub against. He'd feel Kakashi's erection bump into his hip.  
  
He would let the jounin push him against the tiled wall of the shower. With the wall at his back he could use it to increase the friction between both of them. Iruka gasped and let his head fall back against the wall. A low, long moan escaped his mouth.   
  
Suddenly, the loss of the other's man's heated body made him jerk forward in protest. Iruka would open his eyes to see Kakashi sink to his knees. The image of seeing the silver haired man opening his mouth to take in his cock made the chunin whimper.   
  
The feel of the moist and hot mouth on him made his pleasure surge to new heights. Kakashi's wicked tongue, flicking and licking made him let loose a low, throaty groan.  
  
Iruka panted in desperation at the feel of two masculine hands gripping his hips and moving him deeper down that gorgeous pale white throat. A high-pitched whimper escape him and Iruka shoved one hand into his mouth to stop such a pathetic sound.  
  
It was all too much for him and with a muffled shout he came.   
  
Iruka let his body lean against the wall for support as his weakened knees trembled.   
  
After a few minutes passed, Iruka opened his real eyes to the empty shower stall. He sighed in lonely disappointment. The hot water continued flowing over him but it now felt colder than before.  
  
The realization that Kakashi had never even kissed him with such passion was always the greatest source of disappointment that destroyed any sign of an after-glow. Iruka shook his head, droplets of water flew from shoulder length dark hair. He increased the force of the water and returned to cleaning his body. The water washed away everything completely cleaning him but it couldn't do the same for his lingering sadness.   
  
Iruka needed to hurry up. The shower had taken longer than he'd planned. He may love and admire Kakashi but if he ever picked up his habit of always arriving late then he would never be able to let himself live it down.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Hee! I just realized as I reread this [just before I posted it!] I gave Iruka a rainbow colored jutsu! *giggles* Now, that just proves that my subconscious is BAD, totally evil! I can't believe I didn't notice it before! *snickers*  
  
It was harder than I thought to give Iruka a specialized jutsu. Mostly because I kept wanting to power him up! *glomps Iruka-Plushie* My Fave! Can you imagine: Super Iruka-kami! But I tried to resist and give him something that looked pretty weak, at least at first glance but could be pretty deadly is used right. After all appearances can be deceiving! *evil cackle*  
  
*blushing* Oooh, I hope you guys enjoyed that little shower scene. I had a rather fierce inner debate on whether or not to post it before I finally decided that as long as I posted clear warnings then it was Ok. I hope so, at least. *still bright red*  
  
Poor, Iruka-teddy bear, he feels so lonely without his Kakashi-honey. *teary* I need to go huggle my Iruka-plushie now.  
  
Review to let me know what you think of this chapter! I really hope it lived up to expectations! 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Disclaimer: I may not own Naruto but I'm willing to pay money to own Iruka! Or if not him…Shikamaru? ,  
  
Warning: Back to fluff, fluffy fluff. Cloudy cotton candy fluff…well maybe not that bad…^^  
  
Rating: For this chapter? More like P.G.  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: Another chapter for all of my lovely readers! *beams* I'm a little schizo right now since I'm still on the high of getting to see Matrix: Revolution! Whooohooo!  
  
*coughs* But yeah. *grin* I'm glad to see so many people enjoyed the shower scene. Fills me with courage to try something more hentai later! *super-evil grin*  
  
Also, to any KakaIru fan who hasn't been reading Deception by Iktia Jigoku. Go, read, review to ask for more. Then maybe chapter 6 of that fic would get posted sooner! *sobs* Need more of that ficcie!  
  
Nearby, Iruka-plushie sweat-drops.  
  
Sasuke-plushie [not to be confused with Inuyasha's Kitty's Sasuke-kun Plushie]: Ignore the desperate author. Go read the chapter 7. *holds kunai in both hands* Now!  
  
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At the end of the mission, Kakashi had stepped in to help his students finish on time. He didn't want to be too late to meet with Iruka after all. After the genins had captured all the animals, the real time eater had been finding the type of plants that were considered weeds by the family that owned the wild life garden. Some of the plants were rather small or were so rare they were only able to recognizable them by the pictures provided by the family.  
  
Sasuke and Sakura actually wasted more time keeping an eye on Naruto, so the boy wouldn't accidentally destroy one of the rare valuable plants that they were suppose to take care of, that their pace was slower than a snail. Kakashi hadn't planned on helping them out but as each hour slowly passed by he grew more and more anxious over meeting Iruka. He didn't want the man to waste his time just waiting around for his arrival.   
  
With Kakashi's help the team finished the mission around four o'clock. After the job was completed and the team got their payment, Kakashi dismissed his students to go home to rest. He was so focused on immediately heading towards the bookstore that he didn't notice the hidden figures of his students trailing behind him.  
  
The Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy had ended just a couple of hours previously. As Kakashi jumped from rooftop to rooftop he hoped that Iruka was still waiting for him. And if he wasn't -  
  
Kakashi winced at the wave of disappointment that filled him. He just hoped that hadn't happened.  
  
One last jump from a large building near the center of the village sent him falling through the air. He aimed his body for a slim light pole. As he hit it, Kakashi's gloved hands curled loosely around the pole and his momentum sent him spinning around it. He spun, once, twice, and three times around the pole before letting go. He fell sideways feet first towards the side of a shop. The jounin was careful to hit the wall without the window, feet first, bending his knees to control his motion and to absorb the kinetic energy from the fall. He pushed off the wall and did a slow forward spin to land on his feet, and perfectly straight right before the entrance of the book store.  
  
A slow clapping came from the side of the store.  
  
Kakashi turned to see Iruka clapping and smiling at him. "Great entrance," Iruka teased him. "And here I thought ninjas had to be good at 'not' being noticed."  
  
Kakashi grinned at the other man, and joked back, "I never said I was a normal ninja." The jounin's softly sighed in relief at the sight of Iruka was muffled by the mask. He had been really worried that the man wouldn't be there. Half-unconscious plans to find the man and drag him to the store if he hadn't been there melted away.  
  
Iruka laughed, it a low and musical sound. It made Kakashi's smile get bigger. He stepped closer to the other man, not bothering to fight the urge to invade Iruka's personal space. Iruka's laugh, slowed to a stop and he blinked as he realized how close the jounin had gotten to him. He didn't get a chance to think about it, because Kakashi grabbed his arm and dragged him into the bookstore.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura nearly had to their abort their mission when they first tried to follow Kakashi.  
  
They hadn't thought that their teacher would travel by rooftop and when they had trailed him they had noticed that there was almost no cover to hide behind on those roofs. They ended up having to stay further behind the jounin than they had first planned. Kakashi gained such a lead that they nearly lost sight of him on more than one occasion.  
  
They were able to finally catch up to him at Kakashi's final leap.  
  
Naruto had been openly impressed. Sasuke was expressionless as always. While Inner Sakura just called their teacher a show-off.  
  
They had then become stunned to see Iruka laughing next to Kakashi. They didn't think that the school teacher would be the one that Kakashi was meeting. They were still mentally adjusting when both men entered the bookstore.  
  
"Hey!" Naruto protested at seeing Kakashi grab and drag Iruka into the store.  
  
"Quiet, dummy!" Sasuke hissed. "Do you want them to see us?"  
  
Sakura joined in glaring at the blond boy.  
  
Naruto crossed his arms and sulked. "Kakashi didn't have to drag him around like that!" The blond ignored how possessive of Iruka he sounded.  
  
Sasuke gave Naruto a weird look before shaking his head in exasperation.   
  
"Let's go," whispered Sakura. She began raising from a crouch to jump down to ground level.  
  
"Wait," Sasuke interrupted her. His teammates turned to look at him. Sasuke held out his communicator and said, "We should use these now. If we need to get separated from each other at least we'll be able to stay in touch."  
  
"That's a wonderful idea, Sasuke!" Sakura said enthusiastically. Inner Sakura waved a banner declaring 'Sasuke the most intelligent guy in existence'.   
  
Next to her, Naruto steamed and turned green with envy. He promised to come up with something that would show that 'bastard' that he was the smarter one.  
  
Sasuke just ignored the compliment, since it was just standard procedure when trailing a target. He turned on the communicator by depressing a small blue button on it's side. Sasuke put in on, and was also careful to hide the wire with his hair so that if anyone caught sight of him then they wouldn't realize what he was up to or wonder why he was wearing it.  
  
He waited until his teammates were plugged and set to go before walking over to the side of the wall that dropped down into a small alley. Sasuke jumped over and flexed his knees to land easily. Naruto and Sakura followed close behind him.   
  
They walked out of the alley and into the store, trying to seem like normal teenagers looking for a good book. Team 7 tried to be careful to not be noticed by anyone as they entered the store. Each genin ran to hide the second they were inside.   
  
Sasuke slowly peeked over a stack of books to see if Kakashi was in sight. He whispered into the communicator, "Target not in sight. Coast is clear to move." Sasuke left his spot and moved further inside the store to the next hiding location. He took his normal position as point.  
  
At his words, Naruto and Sakura moved out to follow. Naruto followed Sakura, for one staying serious and looking out for either teacher. The pink haired girl, used to the middle position, absorbed all the information on her surrounding that her senses could take and began planning various moves. Her sharp green eyes spotted several positions where a ninja could remain completely hidden. She also noted the places that they should avoid because while some looked like great hiding places they were actually visible from other angles in the store. She whispered her observations and suggestions into her communicator where Naruto and Sasuke should move to next.  
  
Both boys gave her their agreement. All three then headed for their next positions making sure to keep their eyes opened for their targets.  
  
Unnoticed by all three genins, the owner of the shop was giving them all weird looks. He usually greeted his customers as they entered his shop but Team 7 hadn't given him the time to speak. He just sighed and shook his head, he knew that moving the shop to Hidden Leaf Village all those years ago would mean that his life would be full of strange and interesting occurrences.   
  
All he wished was that he'd known just how weird they would get.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
After being dragged inside, Kakashi refused to let go of his grip on Iruka. The poor school teacher barely got the chance to nod a greeting to the owner as the jounin dragged him to the back of the store.   
  
The store was set up so that the entrance and the first floor was full of kids books and larger brightly colored toys. The design scheme continued to the back of the store where the young adult section began. It wasn't until one climbed to the second floor did a customer notice that the section for adults.   
  
Iruka didn't mean to be opportunistic but since he was stuck behind Kakashi's back, he took the time to scope the older man's body. His eyes especially lingered on the jounin's firm and muscled rear end. He couldn't even dredge up any feeling of guilt about ogling. Iruka rather suspected that he had a stupidly huge grin on his face.   
  
Kakashi knew exactly where he wanted to go. They climbed to the second story on the store where the books targeted to adults were held. He skirted the abysmally small horror section. He knew that Iruka wouldn't have any interest in that genre. In fact, in the entire Hidden Leaf village, anyone over a certain age, who had been here when the Nine-Tails Fox Demon attacked, had seen too much blood and horror to be entertained by it in a written format.  
  
Only the children's version was large, since they didn't know the truth of real horror.  
  
Kakashi suddenly stopped before the fantasy section. Iruka, didn't have the time to come to a complete stop and slammed right into him. Both men fell over.   
  
Iruka blushed as he noticed that he was laying on top of Kakashi. He scrambled off, mumbling apologies to the jounin, and he reached out a hand to help Kakashi up. The silvered hair man grabbed the arm but instead of letting himself be pulled up, Kakashi dragged the brunet down.  
  
Startled, Iruka lost his balance and fell right next to the jounin. Kakashi took the opportunity to attack the chunin's sides.   
  
Iruka let loose a squeak before a fountain of giggles bubbled out.  
  
"Attack of the Tickles- Kakashi's Revenge," snickered Kakashi.  
  
The chunin was too busy laughing and defending himself to respond. He finally managed to shove himself away from the other man's wicked fingers. Iruka struggled to suppress his laugh, and he had his arms in front of him as a defense. Iruka gave the silver haired man a very cautious look.   
  
Kakashi just beamed at him. His visible happily curved up. He had been looking for the chance to get his revenge for Iruka's attack on him last night. He didn't think he would get an opportunity to attack so soon.  
  
"Truce?" Iruka asked. He refused to get near the jounin until the other man agreed.  
  
"Truce!" agreed Kakashi with a laugh.   
  
Iruka shook his head and moved next to his crush. He looked at the brightly colored covers of the fantasy and science fiction books. It was a genre that he hadn't read for a very long time but he remembered enjoying it a lot. He drifted over to see if an author he remembered liking had released any new material.   
  
Kakashi was already immersed in reading the back cover synopsis of the stories. Soon, he had a messy pile of novels in his arms. He looked up and saw that Iruka was nowhere in sight. He frowned, set his stack on a nearby table and when in search of the wandering school teacher.  
  
To his exasperation, Kakashi found Iruka before the newest text books, in a section tailored for students and teachers. The chunin was immersed in reading the latest human biology text book.  
  
Iruka didn't get the chance to protest as the book was yanked out of his hands and he was once again being dragged away by Kakashi.  
  
"I'm not buying you a boring book!" scolded Kakashi. "So don't even think about going anywhere near that section again."  
  
Iruka gave the books a last mournful look before sighing his agreement. "Ok, ok. I'll get a fun book." He mentally promised his inner teacher that he'd come back at some later date and get his pick of the new text books. Some of those looked really helpful for his class. Iruka was the sort of teacher that was always looking for things that would make his class interesting and informative to his student and didn't want each year to be the exact same boring thing. The world changed too fast for some of those changes to not be reflected in teaching.  
  
Kakashi plopped the younger man in a chair before the stacks of books he had picked out. Iruka gave them all a wary look. He dreaded the possibility that some of them would be perverted like 'Come Come Paradise'.  
  
Fortunately, his misgivings were misplaced. The books Kakashi had picked out where all with very well developed plots. Some, Iruka was surprised to notice, were even some that he had read before and had really enjoyed.   
  
Among them he found a copy of a book he had always wanted to buy but had never gotten around to it mostly because his extra money kept draining into Naruto's endless stomach. He had picked his book. Iruka then found himself hesitating about informing Kakashi about his choice.  
  
Iruka knew that once he told the jounin that he had picked his book then he wouldn't have an excuse to spend time with the man that was the star in his dreams. He wanted to cry with denial. He just wasn't ready to part company with Kakashi. At least not this soon. Iruka thought that they would, at the very least, spend an hour just looking around.  
  
He would just have to pretend that he was having a hard time picking a title. A little corner of his mind was ashamed by his deception but most of it was too focused on Kakashi to care. Iruka mentally marked the title he wanted and set it back in the stack. Then he went in search of Kakashi, who had wandered off on his own.  
  
Iruka found the silver haired jounin looking through the mystery section of the store. He joined his crush there and grabbed the first book that caught his attention. His selection made Kakashi snort and grab the book out of Iruka's hands.  
  
"Do you have a problem with my taste?" teased Iruka. He didn't really mean it since he hadn't even noticed what he had picked.  
  
"This author always gives the bad guy away," said Kakashi. "Talk about spoiling a good mystery."  
  
Iruka snatched the book back and pretended to scrutinize it. "Are you sure that it's not because you give in and peek to the end?"  
  
Kakashi, picking up the joking tone, grew teasing indignant. With an imperious voice, the jounin declared, "I have never, not once, at all, spoiled the ending of a story by looking ahead, good sir!"  
  
Iruka was choking down a full scale laugh at the snotty tone of Kakashi's voice. It was a voice that just didn't fit the silver haired man's personality.   
  
An image of Kakashi addressing his students in such a voice, and the expressions on their faces when they heard it made Iruka loose control on his laughter.  
  
"Shh!" whispered Kakashi to the chunin with a finger held up to his masked mouth. His eye was sparking with mirth. "This place is like a library. You have to be quiet."  
  
In response to Kakashi's words, Iruka clamped his hands over his mouth, but choked laughter still managed to escape.  
  
Kakashi gave a fake sad sigh and he sternly told Iruka, "I can't take you anywhere."  
  
Iruka managed to give a the jounin a negative head shake in response. The school teacher would probably have continued laughing at Kakashi's antics if not for a reflection that caught his attention.  
  
When Iruka had looked up in his head shake, the corners of his brown eyes saw a kneeling Naruto, reflected off a nearby glass display case. Only pure luck, allowed the chunin to see the blond boy.  
  
Iruka's laughter died swiftly. His eyes narrowed as he saw Naruto looking over his shoulder. It was obvious to Iruka that the blond boy was trying not to be seen. The chunin couldn't help but suspect Naruto of trying to pull of one of his pranks.  
  
Kakashi grew concerned over Iruka's abrupt change of mood. He asked, "What's wrong Iruka?"  
  
Determined not to lose sight of Naruto, Iruka didn't even glance at the other man. His voice was dry as he said, "It seems that you were followed, Kakashi."  
  
"Eh?" asked Kakashi, wondering what Iruka meant.  
  
"At the moment," Iruka continued, a hint of humor leaking back into his voice. "At least one of 'your' students if stalking us."   
  
Kakashi leaned in. "Who is it?"  
  
"Right now the only one that I see is Naruto," answered Iruka. "I don't see Sasuke or Sakura but I assume of one them is here with him."  
  
"I agree," Kakashi frowned. "Naruto wouldn't be able to hide himself that well without one of those two helping him out. At least not in this sort of environment."  
  
Iruka just nodded.   
  
Kakashi leaned in to him trying to find the angle that allowed Iruka to see the blond boy. He pressed against the chunin. The bare skin of his cheek skimmed along the side of Iruka's face.  
  
Any interest in Naruto that Iruka held was abruptly replaced by an intense awareness of Kakashi's nearness.  
  
Iruka's cheek felt extraordinary sensitive. His breathing slowed, shallow and stilted. All the brunet could see, was Kakashi. The warm, familiar scent of the jounin filled his nose, and sank into his throat. Iruka swallowed, trying to moistened his suddenly dry mouth. Iruka's heart pounded like crashing thunder in his ears.  
  
"I see Sakura," said Kakashi.  
  
"Umm?" asked Iruka. He was trying to focus on what they were doing and not on how good Kakashi felt. And on how badly he wanted to have more of that smooth, pale skin touching his own darker one.  
  
"She's hiding in the shadows of those bookshelves," said Kakashi. He turned to look at Iruka to see what had the man so distracted. He hadn't realized how close they had become until they gently bumped noses.  
  
Both men froze.   
  
They blinked at each other and blushed before stepping apart. Iruka gazed firmly at the ground, wishing that Kakashi hadn't stepped away so soon.   
  
Kakashi just rubbed the back of his head. Thanking, for the umpteenth time, for his mask that hid the stain of red on his cheeks. He flicked a gaze back to the chunin and was entranced by the flush of red on his cheeks. He shook his head in order to clear those thoughts away and went back to looking for his hidden students. His search was half-hearted at best, his interest kept getting sidelined into refocusing on Iruka.   
  
The teacher joined the silver haired man in looking for Team 7. Iruka looked to where he'd seen Naruto but the blond boy was no longer there. It took a bit of searching but he was able to find him again.   
  
Iruka leaned towards Kakashi, "I found Naruto again. I'm going to go talk to him and find out what's going on."  
  
Kakashi had never really been able to see the future before, even with his Sharingan eye, but at those words a vision popped into his head. He saw Iruka walking to Naruto and talking to the boy. He also saw Naruto convincing the school teacher to feed him some ramen. Iruka would then leave the bookstore, leaving Kakashi behind. They wouldn't even get the chance to go eat together!   
  
In the attempt to stop that woeful future, Kakashi grabbed Iruka's nearest hand. "Wait!"  
  
"What is it?" asked Iruka. He wasn't able to stop his hand from tightening on Kakashi's gloved hand.  
  
Used to thinking quickly on his feet, Kakashi smiled at the chunin and answered cheerfully, "We don't know what they're up to. I think we should wait on confronting them for a bit. That will give us time to try to figure out what they are trying to do."  
  
Iruka frowned. "You don't think that Naruto is here to pull some sort of prank?" he asked, curious about Kakashi's answer.  
  
"Nope!" the jounin said, "Do you really think that Naruto would be able to pull Sakura and Sasuke into helping him with a prank?" He didn't dare mention the bet that Sasuke had lost to Naruto that morning.  
  
"Well," Iruka said, "…no. I guess not." He knew all three kids pretty well. And he couldn't see Sakura, and especially the stoic Sasuke pulling of the gleeful, disrespectful pranks that Naruto enjoyed.  
  
"So, let's wait and see what they are doing," coaxed Kakashi. "At least we know that they are there. We also have the advantage since they don't know that we know they are following us."   
  
Kakashi gave Iruka an inquiring look. Iruka nodded his agreement. It made Kakashi smile, under his mask. And since he'd never let the other man's hand go, he was able to use his firm grip to drag Iruka back to their book search.  
  
Iruka grew so wrapped up in watching Kakashi that he forgot to keep his eye on Naruto. If he had he would have seen the boy's blue eyes grew huge and his mouth drop in shocked silence.   
  
Naruto had finally seen what Sakura had noticed.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: *snickers* Ooh, Iruka, you opportunistic devil you, ogling Kakashi like that! Oh why? Why didn't you cope a feel while you were at it?! *giggles*  
  
Wheee! Eskimo kiss! Eskimo kiss!! Whoooooo!  
  
Awwww! Isn't that sweet?! Kakashi doesn't want Iruka to leave him….tooo cute!  
  
Yay! Naruto had finally seen the KakaIru light! *celebrates*  
  
Well, another chapter has been posted! All must dance the dance of happy-happy-joy-joy!  
  
Review to let me know what you think of it! 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Disclaimer: I may not own Naruto but I'm willing to pay money to own Iruka! Or if not him…Shikamaru?   
  
Warning: Still fluffy ^^; Err.. biting, beatings and interruptions? Ficcie is still unbetad so all screw ups [especially in the grammar department] are mine.  
  
Rating: Still P.Gish.  
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: [camera pans over to a figure wrapped in thick blanket, a reddish nose the only visible sign of the author before an arm struggles free] *weak wave* Hi everyone. As always I give HUGE thanks to all of you that read this fic and even bigger ones to those that review.  
  
As you may have guessed I'm rather sick at the moment. But fortune smiles because I had this chapter nearly ready to go when I got hit. *sad sigh* The bad news is that the next chapter will not be coming out as quickly though I will try to get it posted before the week is up. *coughs like she's trying to lose a lung*   
  
*Iruka-plushie gives JD a concerned look, then looks over to the audience* I think you should all go read chapter 8 before she tries to talk some more.   
  
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The blond boy gaped. He couldn't believe he had seen what he thought he had seen. He rubbed his eyes with closed fists as if such an action would erase and reverse what had just taken place.  
  
It just wasn't possible!  
  
Even with Sakura insisting the Iruka had feeling for Kakashi. Naruto hadn't been prepared to actually see it with his own eyes. Naruto rubbed his eyes again and shook his head.  
  
It was true, he thought to himself. Iruka was in love with Kakashi.   
  
Naruto began to see a bit of it when he had seen the way the school teacher had his entire attention focused on the jounin. In all the years that the blond had known Iruka, he had never seen the school teacher laughing with such joy.   
  
And all they had been doing was standing around looking at dull books.   
  
BOOKS!  
  
Adults were weird, thought Naruto.   
  
Naruto had then been reminded to chance positions again by Sakura's hissed voice. When he was able to look at the men, Kakashi was holding Iruka's hand and talking to him.  
  
But it had been the way that they stood so close together that really made Naruto see it. Both men had practically been in each others clothes. They'd been that close.  
  
That sight had activated a whole range of protective little brother instincts in Naruto. If he hadn't seen how happy Iruka was to be with Kakashi, Naruto would have leapt away from his hiding spot and wretched the chunin away from Kakashi's grabby hands.  
  
As it was, he was grumbling under his breath as Kakashi once again dragged Iruka away.  
  
"Naruto."  
  
The blond boy yelped as the radio fizzed, and hissed. Sasuke's voice came through the tiny speaker.  
  
"I have gathered sufficient data on the subjects to come to a conclusion. Have you complete your observation of the situation?" said Sasuke.  
  
Naruto blinked in confusion. He hated it when Sasuke spoke like that. It always made it harder to understand what he was talking about. Finally working out what Sasuke was saying Naruto whispered back. "Yeah, me too."  
  
"Very well." Sasuke continued, "Let's regroup by the 4 meters from the entrance to assemble the gathered intelligence."  
  
"Got it," answered Naruto, as he made at face at Sasuke's continued use of fancy vocabulary. He muttered, "Bastard."  
  
"Naruto," came a low, and growly female voice behind him. "Don't insult Sasuke!"  
  
The blond stiffened in shock and slowly turned to face a very angry pink haired girl. He forced his stiff lips into a shaky smile, and stuttered, "He-Hey-y Sakura, r-ready to go?"  
  
Sakura just gave him a glare and clamped an iron hand onto Naruto's arm. She already knew where to go since Sasuke had called her first.  
  
"Let's go," she said, as she dragged Naruto behind her.   
  
"Wait a sec!" he whined. The blond boy tried scrambled to get up on his feet so she wouldn't tear his arm off.  
  
Sakura just ignored him. She didn't let go of him until Sasuke was in her sight then she let go of Naruto as if she didn't want Sasuke to see her touching another boy.  
  
  
  
She was so busy being starry-eyed over Sasuke that she didn't see the dark haired boy giving her a mild glare. He then walked over to Naruto and held out a hand to help him up.  
  
Naruto took in silently. Once again surprised, in the same day too, over Sasuke showing him a bit of kindness. He didn't know to react to having his rival act like that. If he did it again Naruto would know for sure that Sasuke had been replaced by some enemy ninja that was probably spying on the village.   
  
All three genins huddled together to talk. The were near the entrance but also hidden out of sight by some of the colorful children displays.   
  
"So," asked Sakura, her green eyes glowing with curiosity. "Do you guys agree with me?"  
  
"Yes." answered Sasuke. He didn't really have to say more. He was still, mentally dressing himself down, for not noticing how Kakashi and Iruka acted around each other. He hated to think that he was so unobservant that something so obvious could have slipped by him for so long. He swore to himself to sharpen his observational skills as soon as possible. Such carelessness was not the mark of an elite ninja. He refused to be so weak.  
  
"Eh," Naruto mumbled. He then sighed and said reluctantly, "Yeah, I saw it too."  
  
"Great!" Sakura exclaimed. She beamed at both boys in happy excitement. The pink haired girl rubbed her hands in anticipation. So far the plan was going even better than expected.  
  
"We should continue to follow them for a while." continued Sakura. "If Iruka or Kakashi decided to split to go eat then we can try to get them together. The more time we can get them to spend together the better!"  
  
Naruto and Sasuke nodded.   
  
"What if they decide to go eat together without our help?" asked Naruto curiously.  
  
"Then-" Sakura smiled. "Then we go shopping!"  
  
The boys grew pale.   
  
Sakura's observant eyes saw their expressions and she tried to give them reassuring looks. "It's not a big deal guys. We just need to get some supplies and decorations."  
  
"Supplies?" asked Naruto. Sasuke's face also reflected his mildly curious about Sakura's choice of words.  
  
The pink-haired girl nodded firmly. She had read enough romance novels know what she was talking about. Little things made all the difference. "Yes, supplies."  
  
"Like what?" asked Sasuke reluctantly. He knew was going to regret his question.  
  
"Well," she answered with a mischievous sparkle in her green eyes. "We can hardly wrap Iruka's present without ribbons, can't we?"  
  
Sasuke blinked.  
  
Naruto frowned, "But- I thought you said that we were going to get Ka-" A firm hand clasped itself over Naruto's loud mouth.   
  
"Don't say it out loud in a public place, idiot," Sasuke scowled down at the boy before he pulled his hand away. "Do you want it to get back to him?"  
  
Unfortunately, for Sasuke, this time he was too slow to pull his hand away from his rival and it gave Naruto the chance to bite down on his hand, hard!  
  
Sasuke let out a brief grunt of pain at the unexpected bite.   
  
Instantly, there came a low scream of rage from Sakura. Inner Sakura declared total devastating war on Naruto for daring to bite Sasuke.   
  
The unexpected sound startled Naruto into letting Sasuke's hand escape his mouth and teeth.  
  
Sasuke gave his hand a concerned look. He hoped that it wouldn't get infected. The dark haired boy relaxed when he noticed that none of the perfect mark of a set of teeth on his skin had broken through. Still, it was going to leave a pretty distinct bruise afterwards.  
  
He sighed, and settled down to bandage his hand. Sasuke refused to walk around with Naruto's mark shown so clearly on his skin.  
  
The only sounds from their hidden corner were the high pitched yips of pain from Naruto as he scrambled to avoid most of Sakura's punches.  
  
The bewildered book store owner just kept giving that part of the store weird looks. He 'knew', he just knew that he should have sold the store the last time he had been offered a good price for it. He shook his head and sighed in exasperation.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Iruka flipped to the next page. In his hands he held a hard cover book of ocean photography. It was full a vivid and beautiful pictures of under the sea images as well as some on the surface ones.   
  
He lingered over the new page which showed a silvered bottle-nose dolphin leaping out of the ocean. The sheer joy, and pleasure his namesake was feeling had been perfectly captured by the photographer. The sun shone on the wet skin of the dolphin, making the animal appear to be glowing with inner light.  
  
Iruka's fingers traced the curve of the dolphin's back and he tried to imagine what it would be like to actually touch one. He had always wanted to see a dolphin in real life. It was virtually impossible to live with a name like his and not want to see one. Learning all about dolphins was one of the few hobbies that he had from childhood that had survived to adulthood.  
  
He had been to see the ocean a few times, a couple barely remembered trips with his parents and a some other times while on missions. But he had never gone to a certain beach renown the world over where dolphins were known to swim right up to humans splashing on the water and give them a ride around the blue waves.   
  
Iruka hoped to get a chance to visit it one day.  
  
"What are you looking at?" peeked Kakashi over Iruka's shoulder.  
  
The chunin nearly slammed the book close. His love of dolphins was something that no one knew about. Having the man he admired, and lusted over find out about it was embarrassing. He didn't look up to see Kakashi's face as he lifted the book so that the silver haired man could get a clear view of the photograph.  
  
"Ah," Kakashi's voice was delighted. "I see! What a beautiful dolphin."  
  
Iruka felt his blush returning. He had to firmly remind himself that Kakashi wasn't talking about him. He was fervently glad that the jounin couldn't see his face at the moment.  
  
"Is this the book you want to get?" asked Kakashi. He flipped through the pictures and saw that all photos in the book were of equal, if not higher quality than the leaping dolphin. He checked the author's name and blinked as he recognized the name of one of Shashin's oldest children. Well, that explained why the pictures were so good.  
  
"No," answered Iruka swiftly. He had seen the price tag on the book. He wasn't going to make Kakashi pay that much for a book just because the man seemed to think that he owned him something.   
  
Iruka pulled out the novel he had picked out earlier from under his arm and handed it to the other man.   
  
"This is the one that I want," he said firmly.  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Kakashi, casting a surprised eye on Iruka. "You really seemed to like this one."  
  
"I was just looking at it." Iruka reassured him. "I already picked this one, it's perfect."  
  
Kakashi recognized the cover of one of the books he had picked. He grinned under his mask, at the thought Iruka and he had such similar tastes in books, well, at least in books that weren't like 'Come Come Paradise.'   
  
"Ok!" said Kakashi. He set down the ocean photography book and as had become his habit, he grabbed Iruka's arm and dragged the brunet to the front of the store.  
  
Iruka gave the back of Kakashi's head a bemused look. It seemed every time, since they had first entered the store, that Iruka had ended up in another location away from Kakashi, the jounin would appear to drag him away. He felt like a hyper-active toddler being pulled along by a worried and harried mother.  
  
It was a strange feeling to get from the man he wanted to sleep with. On the positive side, he never had Kakashi touch him so often before, thought Iruka.  
  
He smiled and let himself be dragged up to the sales counter. As he waited for Kakashi to pay for the book he had chosen, Iruka made himself plan what he would do when he got home. He had to finish the dishes, hopefully by now they were ready to be cleaned, and he had to plan out what he wanted to lecture in class for tomorrow.   
  
Normally, he had his syllabus for the week planned out during the weekend but for some reason or another he had only put together a vague plan of what he wanted to do. The most difficult aspect of the planning was tailoring examples of jutsus, or whatever he was trying to explain to students that were hard to reach or didn't understand the normal explanation.  
  
And to reach the students that grew bored by lectures? Iruka winced. For those he had to exercise his lung capacity and ability to project. Only shouting got those kids' attention.  
  
Iruka was deliberately thinking about his class and not Kakashi so he wouldn't feel so hurt when the other man finally said goodbye. He was certain that as soon as the jounin had finished paying for the book, he would leave.  
  
So it came as a supreme surprise when outside of the bookstore, instead of leaving, or saying he had to be elsewhere, Kakashi asked Iruka if he would like to go eat dinner together.  
  
"What?" blinked Iruka. He wondered if his sanity had finally cracked and he wasn't able to distinguish between the real world and his fantasy one.  
  
"Do you want to go eat dinner with me?" repeated Kakashi. He thanked the training that kept the anxiousness out of his voice. He had been having such a good time with Iruka that he didn't want to other man to leave yet.   
  
"Yes!" answered Iruka. A large smile grew on his face. It was taking all his self-control from shouting in victory.  
  
Kakashi smiled back at Iruka.   
  
"Great! There's this restaurant that I like that I want to take you to eat." Kakashi's visible eye curved up with happiness. He handed the bag containing the book to Iruka. The jounin was never going to admit it but he had planned on holding the book hostage if the school teacher needed persuasion to go eat with him. Kakashi was glad to see that he hadn't been forced to such extreme measures.  
  
The shop was a bit of a walk away, but it was nothing for two ninjas of the Hidden Leaf Village. The two men spent the entire time window shopping since most of the way was strewn with various shops. Kakashi kept teasing Iruka with every opportunity that presented itself. The jounin was delighted that Iruka wasn't intimidated and gave as good as he got.  
  
He even succeeded in making Kakashi blush. Though it was hard to see through the mask.   
  
"Don't make me tickle you," retaliated Kakashi. He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers threateningly.  
  
Iruka jumped back out of range. "Truce! We have a truce, remember?" He watched Kakashi's hands and laughed at his sniff of derision.  
  
"I don't remember any truce," Kakashi says innocently.  
  
"Liar!" yelps Iruka. He backpedaled frantically as Kakashi advanced.  
  
"You're calling me, Kakashi Hatake, jounin of the Hidden Leaf Village ninjas a liar?" asked Kakashi. He kept his tone laughingly indignant.  
  
"Yes. I, Iruka Umino, chunin of the Hidden Leaf Village ninjas, is call you a liar!" answered Iruka. He continued backing away from Kakashi. The brunet was paying so much attention to Kakashi and his fingers that he didn't see the wall that the jounin had herded him up against.  
  
Iruka's brown eyes widened as he realized how easily he had fallen into the trap. He tore his gaze away from Kakashi to look around for an escape route, to no avail. Kakashi's trap was too good.  
  
"Heh, heh, bwahahahaha!" Kakashi let loose as an evil laugh. He closed in for the kill. His fingers wiggling in joyful anticipation.  
  
Iruka closed his eyes. He could feel Kakashi getting closer and closer. A nervous flutter settled in his belly. He was going to be tickled to death.  
  
"Iruka-sensei!" came a female voice behind them.  
  
"Damn," muttered Kakashi as he backed away from Iruka. He was incalculably mad at the woman coming up to them.   
  
Iruka opened his eyes feeling a mixture of gratitude and annoyance for the interruption. While he hadn't been looking forward to being tickled, that Kakashi was touching him would have made up for it. But now he'd lost that opportunity.  
  
He recognized the woman as one of the female teachers at the Hidden Village Ninja Academy.  
  
"Good evening, Akane-sensei," greeted Iruka, politely.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here though still sick! [a/n]: Awww, isn't Naruto sweet? He cares so much for his big-bro Iruka! *waves a hankie* Go Naruto!  
  
Better get that hand looked at Sasuke! And ummm, shouldn't you try to stop Sakura from killing Naruto? O_o  
  
*scowls* Damnit! Kakashi missed the chance to moles- I mean TICKLE Iruka.  
  
Posted reviews and pleas for more,  
  
make this story continue to grow!   
  
[ok, no more poetry attempts, promise! ^^;; *crawls away to make herself some chicken soup* ] 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Disclaimer: I may not own Naruto but I'm willing to pay money to own Iruka! Or if not him…Shikamaru?   
  
Warning: Still fluffy ^^; Akane-sensei, races, and ramen fights!  
  
Rating: Still P.Gish.   
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *waves* Hi everyone! This is the next chapter like I promised.   
  
Supreme thanks to everyone who took that time to read this story and reviewed on it! Makes my heart go *squee*!  
  
I also want to thank everyone who wished me well! I feel a lot better! Though I'm currently at the stage were everything ouching! *rolls aching eyes* Fortunately, medication had proven to be our friend, since without it this chapter my have never been ready to post on time. The only truly terrible, and horrible part of being sick was that I didn't get the chance to go read other people's ficcies!   
  
I crave fanfic! *sobs*  
  
Ack, I also know that this chapter is full of screw ups because I didn't get to go over it as much as I would have liked. So, please, if you catch anything major, email me at JDML23@yahoo.com I plan to edit everything later.  
  
Ok, enough of the boring author. Go on…read the chapter….*curls up to nap*  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
The browned haired female teacher had just been walking through the shops trying to find some cloth to make into a new dress when she had seen Iruka Umino and Kakashi Hatake walking, and laughing together.  
  
She had been instantly fascinated by them. Akane had watched them, wondering why such different men would be spending time together when she had seen Kakashi practically pin Iruka against a wall.  
  
A light bulb should have appeared over her head when she had seen that. She was that enlightened and astonished.  
  
She had never heard of Kakashi having interest in men. And Iruka, a sweet and innocent man, who probably wasn't even aware Kakashi's attraction to him. After all, it wasn't Iruka's fault that he didn't see how the jounin was practically draping himself all over him.  
  
It wasn't until she had seen Iruka close his eyes, that she decided to rescue her fellow school teacher.   
  
After she'd called out to him, Akane tried desperately to think up an excuse as to why she had barged in on the two men. Luckily, an idea came quickly to her mind.  
  
She gave Kakashi a mild glare, not scared by the fact that he was a jounin while she was only a chunin, as she tried unsuccessfully to insinuate herself between the two men to protect Iruka from any of Kakashi's advances.  
  
Finally, she was forced to actually pull Iruka away from the masked man to talk to him.  
  
Akane completely ignored the glare shot her way from Kakashi's single visible eye.  
  
She also didn't pay attention to the way that the jounin hovered, rather menacingly, at her back. The female teacher excused it as the manifestation of Kakashi's possessiveness over Iruka.  
  
Akane gave Iruka a kind smile.  
  
She saw him as the youngest teacher at the ninja academy but definitely one of the best. That all his students were chosen as the nine genins this year was extremely impressive. Especially so when it had been the first time all those students had taken the exam. Most teachers had a hard time passing any students on the first try, most took the genin exam a couple a times before they were accepted, if ever.   
  
A lot of teachers would have been resentful to be so upstaged by a new and young teacher, but any negative feelings that they could have developed towards Iruka were destroyed by just talking to the young man.   
  
His kindness, sweet nature and warm sense of humor charmed everyone of the older teachers. They had all grown rather protective of him too. Iruka was several years their junior, and that made a lot of the teachers treat him like a younger brother. Some of the female ninjas even lamented that they were married and weren't free to chase such an 'adorable' man.  
  
"Iruka-sensei, how are you?" asked Akane with a sweet tone.  
  
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking," answered Iruka. His brown eyes flickered over her shoulders to Kakashi. Akane noticed this and her eyes narrowed in thought.  
  
"Do you already have a substitute to cover your class for your birthday?" she asked.   
  
Before Iruka could answer her, Kakashi interrupted them. His voice was surprised as he asked, "It's your birthday soon, Iruka?"  
  
"Yes, Akane-sensei. Someone is covering my class." Iruka looked up to give Kakashi a blushing smile. "And yes, Kakashi, my birthday is in a couple of days."  
  
Akane raised the frame of her glasses with a finger as she turned to give Kakashi a surprised look. You would think that if a man was so interested in someone else that he would at least make the effort to know that person's birthday, she thought. Kakashi was not rising in her estimation. Iruka definitely deserved someone better.  
  
She sniffed derisively, and returned to Iruka. The female teacher finally noticed the blush on the brunet's cheeks. She blinked.  
  
Disappointment filled her. It seemed that she had been too late. Kakashi had already sunk his hooks into young and innocent Iruka.   
  
Well, at least he looked happy, she thought to herself in consolation. She might as well stop getting in their way.  
  
She backed away, giving Kakashi one last glare in which she silently warned him not to hurt Iruka or he would have to answer to her.  
  
She would definitely be keeping an eye on the development of their relationship. And if she found Iruka suffering in any way, she mentally threatened Kakashi, He would have some very angry vengeful teachers on his hands.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
When the female teacher had begun to talk to him, it had taken fierce concentration for Iruka to listen to her words.   
  
His normal obsession with Kakashi made him want to focus on the man rather than his fellow teacher. But this time the jounin wasn't helping because he kept making rude symbols behind the Akane-sensei's back.  
  
Iruka even suspected the silver haired man of sticking his tongue out at the woman. Only the mask that Kakashi wore prevented the suspicion from solidifying into certainty.   
  
He wanted to laugh at the Kakashi's childish actions but to do so would reveal the man to the female teacher. He actually had to bite down on the tip of his tongue when the jounin made bunny ears with his hands on Akane-sensei's head.  
  
When Akane-sensei had mentioned his birthday, Iruka hadn't thought much of it until Kakashi expressed interest. Now his stomach was fluttering with nervousness at the thought that the silver haired jounin would use that information to get him a present.  
  
He had to stop thinking like that. Iruka knew that if he let his hopes rise about getting a gift from Kakashi then he would be hurt if the jounin didn't get him anything.  
  
And he didn't have to, thought Iruka to himself. They were barely becoming friends, and before today, they had merely known each other in passing. Hardly even acquaintances.   
  
Iruka waved away his fellow school teacher as she finally left them. He fell back into step with Kakashi.   
  
He never noticed that brief interval in which Kakashi had left them.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Kakashi was annoyed at being interrupted.   
  
He mourned the loss of opportunity to launch another tickle attack on Iruka. The man's giggles were infectiously adorable. He planned to look for another chance before the day was up.  
  
The silver haired man found himself growing more and more irritated at the woman that had barged in on them as she constantly put herself between Iruka and him.  
  
He was also baffled as to why that woman kept glaring at him. He didn't think that he had done anything to her. Unless Naruto had been the one to do that something and as his teacher he was now getting the blame for it.   
  
It was a very plausible reason, Kakashi thought. It wouldn't be the first time.  
  
The vague thought that maybe she could have feelings for Iruka was dismissed before it even became a conscious thought.  
  
The only good thing was the news she brought was about Iruka's impending birthday. He was glad that she had mentioned it. Kakashi knew that Iruka wouldn't have said anything.  
  
And he knew just what to get the other man.  
  
As Akane-sensei, distracted Iruka with her aimless babble. Kakashi stepped back into some shadows. He focused his chakra and created a single shadow clone. A rather handy skill with many uses other than fighting.  
  
He tossed the clone some money. Kakashi didn't have to tell the clone what to do, since it was him. It knew what he wanted done.  
  
The clone, gave Kakashi a rakish salute and jumped up to the roof tops.   
  
It moved as fast as possible, since it had a limited amount of chakra, back to the book store.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
When Iruka and Kakashi had exited the book store, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for them on the roofs of nearby shops.  
  
They had listened intently to Kakashi as he asked Iruka out to dinner.   
  
Sakura had very nearly given them away with a happy, "Yes!"  
  
Since she no longer saw the need to follow the two men around she rejoined her teammates. The pink haired girl was trying to think of which shops they could visit that would have everything she was looking for.  
  
"Come on guys," she whispered excitedly.   
  
"Are you sure we shouldn't follow them some more," muttered Naruto. He was not looking forward to going on a shopping trip with a girl. He had heard some pretty bad rumors that girls were embarrassing to shop with, and since it came from other guys, he believed it!  
  
Sasuke, remained as silent as always. He just wanted the day to be over so that he could go home and prepare for some additional training. He didn't want to waste their free evening.   
  
And most importantly, he wanted to get away from Naruto before the blond boy remembered the bet he had lost that morning. Sasuke knew that he would get him to start embarrassing himself as soon as he could. The dark eyed boy wasn't planning on sticking around to be a target.  
  
"Come on!" Sakura jumped over to a nearby roof and began running for a store she enjoyed visiting. She didn't bother going back to the ground since by following Kakashi, Team 7 had learned that roof-hopping was the fast way to travel in the crowded village.  
  
Sighing, Naruto began to follow Sakura. Sasuke joined him then quickly surpassed him.  
  
Watching Sasuke's back made Naruto scowl and speed up. He was able to pull up next to Sasuke in a matter of seconds.  
  
Sasuke noticed him out of the corner of his eyes. His dark eyes, obsidian shards, glared a challenge at Naruto. He then increased his speed to once again get further head of the other boy.  
  
Naruto had noticed Sasuke's glaring provocation. He glared right back. His eyes burned with fire and determination as he saw Sasuke moving ahead.   
  
No way am I losing to that cold bastard! Naruto thought fiercely.  
  
Soon both boys were tearing up the roofs of the Hidden Leaf Village as they tried to beat each other in their self-imposed race.  
  
Neither boy noticed Sakura and how quickly she fell behind.   
  
Sakura's eyebrow twitched.   
  
Inner Sakura howled with rage and swore to kill Naruto for making Sasuke race him.  
  
The pink haired girl glowered at the two rapidly fading dots that used to be her teammates.   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Iruka stopped walking and laughed when he finally saw where Kakashi had taken them to go eat. It was another restaurant that sold ramen. It looked a lot more sophisticated and expensive than any of the shops that he usually ate at, since he usually ended buying Naruto more than just one bowl.   
  
Kakashi didn't bother waiting for Iruka to get a hold of himself, and as he had been doing all day, he grabbled Iruka's nearest arm and proceeded to drag the school teacher inside.  
  
Iruka grinned at the back of Kakashi's head and didn't protest the treatment. Though, when he noticed the odd looks directed their way by the people around them, he blushed with mild embarrassment.  
  
Inside the store was even fancier than the outside, the walls were covered with paintings, and expensive tropical plants gave the restaurant a nice touch of privacy among the customers.   
  
Iruka felt decidedly undressed, even in his chunin uniform, to be in this kind of setting. He grew even more embarrassed as he noticed even that nearly everyone inside was a couple, that were clearly dressed up for a romantic dinner date. Only Kakashi's firm hold on his arm prevented him from ducking back out to the street.  
  
Kakashi didn't even notice the odd looks from everyone. It wasn't the first time he had come to this place, and he got those looks every single time he came by. Plus, if he was the sort of man who let himself get influenced by weird looks people gave him, then he wouldn't be himself anymore.  
  
He headed for the bar section of the restaurant where he could sit at the stools. Kakashi chose that location due more to training than anything else. It was the most defensible part of the whole place, with an easy view of the kitchen exit and the main entrance. Both ninjas could also be easy hidden by a pair of tall ferns that flanked the sides of the bar if they needed to employ such concealment measures. And finally, a large mirror hung behind counter and reflected everything and everyone who could pose as a threat.  
  
The silver haired man set Iruka on a stool and settled right next to him. He then waved to one of the waiters that was hovering off to the side.   
  
Kakashi rattled off his order which the waiter scribbled down on a small pad of paper.  
  
"So, what do you want Iruka?" Kakashi asked.  
  
"Ramen, with plenty of fish-cakes," Iruka said cheerfully. He loved those pink and white things.  
  
Their waiter nodded and vanished, as quickly as any ninja, towards the kitchen.  
  
Kakashi grinned beneath his mask at hearing what Iruka wanted. Somehow it didn't surprise him at all.  
  
He turned so that he could look at the brunet. Kakashi smiled again as he noticed Iruka giving the other diners a furtive look and blushing before looking down on the counter top. He slung an arm around the school teacher's shoulders.  
  
"Ignore them," whispered Kakashi, into Iruka's ear. "It's not like they are going to riot because we're here!"  
  
To Kakashi's amusement, his words just seemed to make Iruka's blush even worse  
  
"I-I guess so," agreed Iruka with a stutter. Kakashi's proximity was once again melting away any form of coherent thought.  
  
The clink of porcelain bowls being set in front of them distracted both men.   
  
Kakashi was annoyed at himself for not paying attention to his surrounding and noticing the waiter come back to them. Such carelessness was 'not' the mark of an elite ninja!  
  
Iruka thanked the waiter and clicked his chopsticks together before digging in. He was happily munching on the vegetables that came with the ramen when he saw another pair of chopsticks reach for one of 'his' fish-cakes in the bowl.  
  
Instantly, Iruka used his own chopsticks to catch those of the thief. His eyes followed the arm and glared at the perpetrator.  
  
Kakashi just grinned at him. The jounin pulled back his chopsticks and clicked them, the challenge was clear.   
  
Iruka, started to feel amused at the other man's actions. It was clear the Kakashi was determined to steal one of his pink and white fish cakes and he was just as determined not to let him succeed.  
  
Kakashi radiated innocence and went back to his meal, eagerly slurping his noodles. He was deliberately trying to lull Iruka into a false sense of security.  
  
Iruka, was a chunin a of the Hidden Leaf Village, so he was not going to let down this guard. He was better trained than that. He kept a wary, though admiring, eye on Kakashi's back as he returned to his ramen. The scarred brunet also sped up his movements thinking that the faster he ate, the less of a chance Kakashi would have to steal any of his food.   
  
The silver haired man kept trying to get past Iruka's defense by launching surprise attacks, to no avail. The chunin was just too good in his defense, he didn't even relax when Kakashi turned away to eat his own meal. He had too much experience at defending his food. All thanks to Naruto.  
  
Finally, there was just one fish cake left.  
  
A moment later, a startling noise from the entrance made Iruka involuntarily look up to the mirror to see what was going on. His brown eyes widened in shock of his monumental mistake.  
  
Kakashi, seeing the opening, stuck!  
  
Iruka, blindly, moved his chopsticks to intercept.   
  
The sticks clashed.  
  
Kakashi cursed under his breath. It made Iruka smile.  
  
But the jounin wasn't about to give up. No way. He would get his fish-cake. For he had the upper hand.  
  
Click. Click. Click.  
  
The school teacher's eyes widened again as the realization struck like a bolt of lighting.   
  
For in Kakashi's other hand was, another pair of chopsticks!  
  
Iruka's free, and empty, hand spasmed as if holding invisible chopsticks.   
  
Kakashi is already moving. His sharp eye heading unerringly for the last pink & white fish cake.  
  
But Iruka is not to underestimated. The man is a master at this sort of fighting.   
  
So before the idea had even flashed in his mind, Iruka's free hand was on the move.  
  
Both ninjas were reacting so quickly that they were nothing but blurs to the other diners.  
  
When the blurs once again became men the two were revealed.  
  
Kakashi had struck nothing but the counter. The force, snapped both of his extra chopsticks. Iruka was still holding his first pair of chopsticks with his own sticks.  
  
And the bowl of ramen with the one remaining fish cake?  
  
It was held out of reach up and away from the jounin with Iruka's last hand.  
  
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. It appeared that he had severely underestimated his opponent. But it was time to prove why he held the rank of Jounin!  
  
He drew back his chopsticks and carefully infused them with chakra. Glowing a light blue color the wooden sticks began to grow longer until they were double their previous length. The chakra was also strengthening the bonds of the molecules in the wood so that these pair of chopsticks would not snap as easily as the previous pair.  
  
"That's cheating," hissed Iruka.   
  
Kakashi just shot him a smug look, his eye dropping with lazy satisfaction at his advantage.  
  
"All's fair in war and ramen," said the jounin. He clicked his sticks.  
  
Iruka's mouth twitched with an involuntary smile. Naruto had once said the exact thing to him. It was hilarious to hear it from Kakashi.  
  
He flattened his smile away and tightened his hold on his chopsticks. Kakashi was going to have a battle to get that fish cake. The brunet considered his next course of action. He still wanted to eat more of his ramen but holding it out of reach made that rather difficult.   
  
Suddenly, the chunin felt a slight pressure on from the hand holding the bowl. His head whipped away from Kakashi to see another Kakashi kneeling on the surface of the bar. The jounin was lifting up the fish cake from the bowl. Seeing Iruka looking up at him, the clone winked at the chunin.  
  
Iruka's mouth dropped. Instantly, he was full of stunned comprehension. Kakashi had used the his chakra on the chopsticks to not only catch his attention but also to mask the use of his chakra as the silver haired man created a clone to launch an attack.   
  
He had been so focused on guarding from a visible threat that he had forgotten to prepare for an unexpected one from the rear. Though still mentally reeling from being so out maneuvered, Iruka moved to retaliate and get back his fish cake.   
  
The school teacher swept his arm for clone-Kakashi's knees but the clone made a nimble leap from the bar over to Kakashi's side. The clone held the fish cake in a pair of cloned chopsticks over to the jounin.   
  
Kakashi accepted them with a happily curved eye. The clone vanished a in whoosh of chakra smoke.  
  
Iruka mentally growled. He set his the bowl of ramen down and clicked his own pair of chopsticks as he prepared his rescue plan of his poor kidnapped fish cake.  
  
Kakashi's triumphant expression turned wary at the determined gleam in Iruka's brown eyes.   
  
Iruka feinted for the jounin's own bowl of beef ramen. Kakashi moved to defend his own ramen but at the last instant the school teacher swerved up and for the fish cake.   
  
Used to fighting at faster speeds, Kakashi was able to adjust his defense to Iruka's sudden change and moved up the chakra chopsticks to intercept. But what he wasn't prepared for was the muscle the chunin had put behind that move.  
  
The power was enough to send Kakashi's chopsticks flying from his hand and across the restaurant.  
  
TWANG!  
  
Both ninjas stared at where the sticks had landed.   
  
Driven point first into the wood, and just inches from the faces of incoming customers were the vibrating weapons, formally only innocent eating utensils.  
  
Iruka flinched and then sank his head into his hands, moaning.  
  
"Oops," said Kakashi. He absentmindedly took the time to eat his prize while Iruka's eyes weren't on him.  
  
Glowering at both ninjas, a maitre d' stalked up to the two men.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here, and yup, still sick: I blame this chapter on the fact that I've read entirely too much Ranma ½ while growing up. *nods* Yup. That's it.  
  
Hump! *crosses arms* I guess that meddling woman wasn't completely useless. At least, now Kakashi knows Iruka's birthday is coming up! *cheers* Also it was amusing to write someone thinking Iruka as an innocent. *snickers* Yeah, right! Not my Iruka-sensei!  
  
Um, Naruto and Sasuke, you guys better run like crazy. I hate to think of what Sakura would do to Naruto. *winces*  
  
Oooh, Kakashi and Iruka, battling with sticks…..ack…symbolism……... O_o do I reaaaallllllyyyyyy need to make the connection for everyone here?  
  
^.^ didn't think so.  
  
I blame idea of having them battle over a 'fish cake', on my evil twin. Yup. I may not have one right now, but I could get one just to heap the blame on her….  
  
*grins* If you have lasted through my insane ramblings, and story chapter, take a moment of your time and drop me a line…. Reviews make my brain all melty! 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really feel like saying it right now. Get back to me in a few hundred years. *grin* Thought Shashin and Firumu are MINE!!! BWAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!  
  
Warning: Lingerie, remembrances, and phobias! The fluffiness refuses to leave ^^;  
  
Rating: Still P.Gish.   
  
Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *waves* Hi everyone! I'm apologizing ahead for such a short chapter! But I figured that everyone would rather have a short chapter now, rather than waiting a few more days just for a couple of pages….at least I hope that what everyone wants. ^^;;;  
  
My everlasting thanks to everyone who reviews. I always, always appreciate it!   
  
I also want to welcome newcomers to this fic. *beams* I'm so happy to have more victims to my madness… err.. I mean readers….yeah…  
  
Whee! I also have a recommendation to anyone that loves KakaIru and SasuNaru. Morien Alexander's 'Sometimes', is truly a wonderfully funny fic. Just remembering the newest chapter [3] is enough to get me rolling on the floor with laughter! *giggles*  
  
Also, THE SICKNESS from HELL is gone! Just the occasional rare cough. I definitely think it was all the well wishes that did the trick! Thank you all! Since I'm better it shouldn't take me forever to post the next chapter. *crosses fingers* I hope!  
  
*random dropping anvil hit's the authoress* @.@  
  
*Sasuke-plushie roll his eyes* I recommend reading this chapter before she wakes up to babble some more.   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Sakura glowed with happiness as she stepped into the most perfect shop she could think of to buy some of the stuff they would need.   
  
A muted Naruto and Sasuke followed reluctantly, and stopped at the very entrance of the shop. They didn't see why they had to go into a lingerie shop. How could a store that sold women's undergarments possibly be any help in getting Iruka his birthday present?  
  
"Come on guys!" Sakura called to the boys.  
  
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged wary looks and entered.   
  
Sasuke firmly kept his eyes on Naruto's back. That way he didn't have to see any of the garments hanging on their racks or especially on the demonstration dummies. There was just too much lace and pink for any man to take!  
  
It didn't take Naruto very long to get over his aversion to the place. Some of the stuff looked pretty cool. The blond stared, fascinated, and taking mental notes on how some of the stuff was put together. It may come in useful for his Sexy no Jutsu. He was suddenly struck with an evil thought.  
  
"If she needs anyone to model anything," Naruto whispered to his rival. "Then you're doing it!"  
  
Sasuke choked. But before he could yell his outrage at such a vile suggestion Naruto grinned, "Don't forget, I won our bet."  
  
Now, Sasuke looked murderous. It was true, even though Kakashi had interfered, Naruto had won. But to try on lingerie? He would have revenge on Naruto, without a doubt.  
  
He gritted his teeth as he nodded his reluctant agreement. "Then the bet starts now," growled Sasuke. "It ends in forty-eight hours, no matter what!"  
  
"Ok," agreed Naruto, a wide cheerful grin on his face. Oh, the things he could come up with to do to that cold bastard, he thought. The next forty-eight hours were going to be fun!  
  
Sasuke shuddered.  
  
"What are you guys doing?" Sakura asked, as she looked back to them. "Follow me!"  
  
Naruto eagerly headed for the pink haired girl with Sasuke slowly trailing him. They wove past many different styles of garments. Sasuke returned to keeping his dark eyes clamped on Naruto's distinctly orange jacket. If he was going to end up trying any of this stuff, then he rather not know forehand how bad it could get.  
  
"We're here!"   
  
"This is it?" Naruto voice was full of disbelief.   
  
Curiously, Sasuke peeked over the blond boy's shoulder. An involuntary sigh of relief escaped him.  
  
Sakura was beaming a display of products that were not lingerie. Instead it was full of various candles, of different colors and scents. There were also packages of potpourri, as well as lotions, bath oils and soaps.  
  
Naruto looked very disappointed. "This is what we came in here for? Why not some of that stuff." The boy waved to the lingerie.  
  
"Yeah , this is it." Sakura gave him a baffled look, "Why would Iruka need any of that?"  
  
Naruto's blue eyes clouded, a look of disturbed disgust on his face. He had forgotten that they weren't in here to torment Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes at both of them.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Iruka moaned into his hands as he walked on the streets of the Hidden Leaf Village. "I can't believe we were kicked out of that restaurant," he said for the fifth time. His embarrassment was monumental. He severely hoped that Naruto didn't get wind of this. Or worse, any of his other students!  
  
Kakashi cast his an amused look as he walked beside the school teacher. "You act like you've never been kicked out of a place before."  
  
Iruka finally looked at the jounin, a small smile on his lips. "Well, the last time that has ever happened to me, I was just a kid."  
  
"Really?" Kakashi's eye widened a bit. "I can't really see you getting into trouble, even as a kid."  
  
"Oh yeah," Iruka blushed, "I was a real trouble maker. Nowhere near as bad as Naruto but still up there."  
  
The jounin's eye grew wider, "Now, that I can't believe!"  
  
"Believe it," laughed Iruka. "And here I thought that my trouble-making days were long behind me." His voice grew teasing, "It must be the company I'm keeping."  
  
"Hey!" Kakashi protested. A huge smile was hidden under his mask but his curved eye gave away his expression.  
  
Now, that he was getting over being embarrassed by the whole situation, Iruka had to admit that he had lots of fun getting into trouble like he had. The food battle he'd had with Kakashi had been invigorating.  
  
Even though he'd lost at least he hadn't just given in even though he had faced a superior fighter. And if that unfortunate bit with the chakra enhanced chopsticks hadn't occurred then there had been a good chance of getting his fish cake back. His only real regret was missing his chance to see Kakashi's face when the older man had to lower his mask to eat it.  
  
He knew the silver haired man wasn't ready to reveal himself to him yet. And even though he had resigned himself to waiting for the jounin to chose when to show himself, most of him was still wishing he could 'know' what Kakashi looked like under that mask. Every time Iruka realized that he had missed an opportunity to find out, well it just drove him a little nuts.  
  
"I'm sorry you got banned from the restaurant," apologized Iruka. "You did say that you enjoyed eating there and it's partly my fault that you can't go back."  
  
Kakashi grinned and slung an arm over Iruka's shoulder. "Don't worry about it! The food at Ichiraku Ramen tastes a whole lot better. And it doesn't have that mean maitre d!"  
  
Iruka smiled back and suppressed his urge to snuggle into the jounin. His eyes flicked down to the ground so that the other man wouldn't see the desire lurking in his eyes. He'd never really been able to prevent really strong emotions from showing on his face.   
  
"Hey, want to come with me to pick up something?" Kakashi asked suddenly.  
  
Curiously, Iruka glanced at the silver haired man, "To pick up what?"  
  
"By now," smiled the jounin, mischievously, "The film canisters I dropped off should be developed. I figured you would want to see them and pick the ones you want to make into copies."  
  
"Oh!" Iruka said in realization. "You got them developed already?! Yes, I want to see how they came out." The chunin grinned with relief and enthusiasm at getting to spend even more time with Kakashi.  
  
"Good! I can't wait to see how great my blackmail material will turn out to be!" Kakashi said, as he rubbed his gloved hands together in sheer enthusiasm.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
"Father, please, think of what you're doing!" Firumu begged as he followed behind his father. "Kakashi is a jounin level ninja. It's not a good idea to fight him!" The young man wished that he had taken greater care in hiding the order form of Kakashi's film canisters from his father's eyes.  
  
"Firumu," growled a slender, though short white haired man. A shock of black centered in the middle of the white hairs. Making an observer wonder if the hair was a true reflection of the man's age. Surely, hair had to dyed to make such an odd pattern. "Don't you think your own father can fight against that lack-a-bout Kakashi!" Shashin turned back to dig in some of his cabinets, looking for something specific that he thought would 'finally' bring that brat down!  
  
"But father!" Firumu protested. "Remember what happened last time. The whole shop was destroyed! And the neighboring buildings sustained heavy damage. They even threatened to get the Hokage to make us move the store to another location!" The young man shuddered at the vivid memory of that awful morning. His father had taken a rare opportunity to handle the register of the shop when Kakashi had decided to stop by.   
  
Firumu hadn't seen how the fight had started. He had been in the back handling the development of customers film when he heard noises coming from the front. He had been quickly clued in on to what was going on by his father's deep screams of rage, and cursing of Kakashi's name.  
  
The young man had promptly hidden himself in a nearby supply closet, hoping that by doing so he could avoid getting sucked into the fight against the jounin. He wasn't planning on risking his life at such a tender age.  
  
Unfortunately, he hadn't foreseen the force that the two combatants would exert during their fight.   
  
The entire store, from front to back ended up reduced to kindling. And Firumu? No one had realized for an entire day that he was missing.   
  
His older brothers had ended up digging him out of the rubble when the family had finally realized that he had still been in the shop when it had come down. Pale, and traumatized though not too physically hurt, it had taken him a couple of weeks to recover from the emotional wounds.   
  
Though, he still screamed like a little girl at the sight of open closets.   
  
"Don't worry," Shashin said grimly, "I know better now. There is no point in using a bazooka against a jounin ninja. It's simply too slow to be of any use."  
  
"I still want to know how you managed to get you're hands on one of those," muttered Firumu. He added, "And I thought you only wanted to knock him out so you could see how'd he look like under his mask!"  
  
"You're way too young to know about that sort of thing," scolded his father. Shashin let loose a triumphant sound as he found was he was looking for. He had ordered this a while ago and had been waiting for the chance to use it. "Anyway, I figured it would take something like a bazooka to knock out a hard-head baka like Kakashi."  
  
Firumu gave the innocuous tube a doubtful look. Rather nervously he asked, "That doesn't explode, does it?"  
  
"Oh course not! Don't be an idiot. You know our insurance rate is too high as it is without making it worse by deliberately blowing the shop up. Again." Shashin returned to looking in the cabinets for a flat dark wooden box that had arrived with his weapon.  
  
Firumu gave his father a doubting look. Why hadn't he thought of that before he got something as deadly as a bazooka, he mentally grumbled. He could have avoided gaining his bout of claustrophobia entirely. He was just glad that it only reacted to supply closets.   
  
Finally, giving up on being able to dissuade his father from causing mayhem, Firumu plotted the fastest escape route out of the store. He wasn't planning on sticking around to get trapped under rubble again!  
  
His attention was caught by the satisfied smile on his father's face. Firumu peered curiously at the wooden box and wondered what it could possibly contain that would bring down a jounin class ninja.  
  
Shashin opened the box and grinned at the gleaming metal darts filled with shimmering green liquid.  
  
Now, all he had to do was lay in wait for Kakashi, he thought gleefully.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Bwahahahaha! Naruto squicked himself out! *falls over giggling* Not that 'I' wouldn't mind that they get Iruka some lingerie. I bet Kakashi is bound to appreciate it!  
  
*huggles Iruka-plushie* Oooh, you were a trouble maker, huh? Wanna see!  
  
*stares at Shashin* Hey, what are you planning? You better not hurt Kakashi….really…. I don't think you want to make Iruka mad….…. O_o I think I'm afraid!  
  
Err.. I don't think that there are any sort of guns, or such weapons in the Naruto universe since I tried to search for any reference. So I guess that this makes this universe AU. *snickers* Yeah, like everything else fits like a glove.  
  
Also, to all the SasuNaru fans who took the plunge and gave my fic a chance even though it does say that there will barely be any, the next chapter will be all Sasuke and Naruto interaction with more SasuNaru then I previously planned on writing. *beams at readers*  
  
Review, please…..please…please…..*will to be dignified breaks and begs* PLEASE!!!!! 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really feel like saying it right now. Get back to me in a few hundred years. *unhappy sigh* All screw-ups are still mine, though. *pout*  
  
Warning: more lingerie, a fem-Sasuke, fireballs and caresses! And yup, still with the fluffy  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PGish  
  
Pairing: I can no longer say that the pairing for SasuNaru will be vague.   
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: Hi everyone! *cheerful wave* Here I have ready the more SasuNaru I promised. It was actually harder to write than I thought it would be. *embarrassed* I kept wanting to cut back to Iruka and Kakashi to find out what they were up to but I managed to resist. *grin* Well, it's a nice and long chapter to make up for the shortness of the last one. [another reason it took a while to write]. *crosses fingers that everyone enjoys it*  
  
*kibitzed smile* Ooh, look at all the pretty reviews. So many….*authoress faints*   
  
*revives to blurt out* I have to thank everyone who reviews last chapter. THANK YOU: Jada Flame, Morien Alexander, Inuyasha's Kitty, Ailetoile, esaure, Guesto-chan, sawdust monster, Bishiehuggler, fsdgsdfg, cneko2, Escuro de la Lus, Iktia Jigoku, Suli of the yaoi addicts, evafreak, Assassin of the Shadows, Sailor Yaoi Moon, Ayako, rice_pudding, SiriusMoonPuppy, huzzah ukelele, Remii Robin, Crystal the Demon-Touched, Sonha, firedraygon97, TasukiNoBaka *wheezes to a halt and faints again at the shock of all those names*  
  
*Sasuke-plushie points down to the fic and doesn't try to talk about it*  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
"This stuff is so great," Sakura gushed all over the items on the display case.   
  
Sasuke and Naruto exchanged confused looks. They didn't get it.   
  
"Look," squealed Sakura, not noticing the boys' expressions. She pointed at some red heart shaped candles, "Aren't those so adorable?"  
  
The boys' shrugged at each other. Finding colored wax cute, had to be a girl thing.  
  
Naruto ignored Sakura's cooing over the stuff and wandered over to look at some of the sexy garments. He still wanted to use them to torment Sasuke but he couldn't think of how.  
  
Little demon horns seemed to appear on his forehead as the perfect idea popped into his head. Now all he needed was the perfect little outfit. Naruto began his search immediately,  
  
Sasuke gave the direction Naruto had disappeared to a worried glance as he heard the blond, cackling to himself. Mental alarms were going off in his head but before he could sneak away, since if Naruto couldn't find him then he couldn't make him do anything, a pair of orange clad arms clamped themselves around his waist.  
  
The brunet silently glared at the blond. He struggled to suppress the urge to pummel Naruto into the ground. He hated it when people touched him without warning.   
  
Sasuke didn't dare protest as Naruto dragged him away from Sakura. He had promised to obey the other boy for two entire days.   
  
Naruto looked furtively around, checking to make sure that there was no one watching them and pulled Sasuke into a, specifically chose, private corner of the store.  
  
"What do you want?" hissed Sasuke.  
  
Naruto's blue eyes gleamed with joy, "For the bet: I want to you to learn my Sexy no Jutsu with the Sharingan."  
  
Sasuke's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why?"  
  
"Because," Naruto smirked, "I doubt you're scrawny body would look good in that-" The blond pointed at a black, silky garment hanging on a nearby hanger.  
  
Sasuke's dark eyes nearly bulged out of his head in shock. That had to be the most risqué lingerie ensemble in the entire store! And considering the store, that was really saying something!  
  
"No!" he blurted out. "Absolutely now way in hell!"  
  
"Ahh, but you see," Naruto smile grew vulpine, "I don't believe you have a choice."  
  
Sasuke grew quiet. He knew Naruto was right, yet he tried frantically to think of something that would let him escape the humiliation,. Only one idea came to mind and while he was loathe to try it, it could be his only way to escape. Sasuke growled, "Doesn't this count as making me do something perverted? I don't think Sakura would like it."  
  
Naruto's blue eyes widened in horrified realization. The blond grabbed the front of Sasuke's dark blue shirt. He babbled, "You can't tell her! I forbid it! She can never ever hear about it from anyone one! Promise me!"  
  
Sasuke gritted his teeth and gave Naruto a stiff nod of agreement.  
  
"Good," sighed Naruto with relief. He stepped back and rubbed his hands in anticipation. He continued, "Now activate your creepy eyes and pay attention."  
  
Sasuke glared at the blond for the insult before closing his eyes and focusing his chakra. Calling up the Sharingan got easier and easier every time he used it, but it still required a lot of his concentration to activate his eyes.  
  
His control over his chakra wasn't as perfect as he would have wished and that imperfection affected his ability to swiftly call up the Sharingan.  
  
When Sasuke reopened his eyes, they had changed into the advance bloodline skill of an Uchiha, the Sharingan.  
  
Naruto shivered at the glare he received. Those red eyes were pretty freaky but cool too, and they weren't as bad as those white ones that Hinata Hyuga had, but definitely among the weirdest thing he'd ever seen.   
  
The blond focused his chakra. Instantly, he was enveloped in a cloud of chakra smoke. When it began to clear a gorgeous nude blonde posed in the middle of the smoke and blew Sasuke a saucy wink and kiss.  
  
Sasuke ignored it as he assimilated the information his Sharingan was providing about the jutsu, how it was put together and how to modify it to his own purposes. It was a jutsu similar to Henge no Jutsu, the transformation skill, but were that jutsu copied the look of another person this one used the features of the caster and transformed them into that of the opposite gender.   
  
Well, that explained why Naruto looked so much like his female form, thought Sasuke absently, as he also looked at the chakra levels involved in the Sexy no Jutsu. It wasn't the hardest jutsu he had ever had to learn.  
  
Naruto transformed back to himself and gave Sasuke a baffled look. The cold bastard hadn't even reacted with a blush to his powerful Sexy no Jutsu.   
  
That was very strange, thought Naruto. The blond boy scratched his head, confused. Not even the Hokage had been able to resist it.  
  
Then the blond boy glared at the brunet, no way did it mean that Sasuke was a superior ninja! No! He was the one who would be the next Hokage not that cold idiotic pretty boy!  
  
His attention was brought back to Sasuke when he heard the whoosh of chakra smoke. Naruto eagerly looked at the other boy, wondering what he would look like as a girl.  
  
When the brunette reappeared, Naruto's mouth dropped. If his own female form was beautiful then Sasuke's was drop dead gorgeous. And the thing that most disturbed the blond boy, was that he could see the features of Sasuke in those of the Sexy no Jutsu form.   
  
Sasuke carefully adjusted his, well now her, clothes and checked on a nearby mirror to make sure that the Uchiha clan symbol normally on the back of her shirt was now gone. She didn't want anyone to connect her female form to the male him and that symbol was entirely too well known in the village as well at the knowledge that Sasuke was the only remaining member of the clan. Having the rumors of a new Uchiha show up out of nowhere would just cause more trouble than she wanted to deal with.   
  
Sasuke growled at Naruto when she noticed the boy staring at her with such stunned amazement.   
  
Naruto blinked and shut his mouth with a snap. "Ugh," he mumbled, trying to jumpstart his brain into action.  
  
Sasuke just rolled her eyes and stalked up to the 'attire' that Naruto had pointed out. She didn't notice how Naruto's eyes widened at her unintentional sway of her hips. She glared at the black, silky material as if she could make it burst into flames with her gaze alone, and considering she was an Uchiha that could very well be possible.  
  
She grabbed it, looked around, and headed straight for the fitting room. Sasuke didn't bother to check if Naruto was planning on following since she'd rather get this over with as soon as possible.  
  
Naruto rubbed his blue eyes before following Sasuke. Part of him, that part that wasn't laughing like a maniac at what he was making Sasuke do, was being to regret it. He didn't expect to get such a jolt from seeing Sasuke as a girl. That was just too weird for him.   
  
The blond boy shook his head free of such thoughts and followed behind his rival. All while trying to keep his eyes on the back of Sasuke's head and her long, flowing hair rather than 'her' backside.  
  
It had shaken Sasuke's self-control a little when she saw the bored teenage girl managing the fitting room desk since she thought that maybe she would be able to get away without anyone seeing her. Until she reminded herself that her current form was no different than how she should act in Henge no Jutsu, the transformation skill. All she had to do was act the part. That was all.  
  
With that firmly in mind she was able to walk with confidence and grace. She quietly set the lingerie before the girl who looked up from her magazine.   
  
When the girl's eyes had widened Sasuke feared that she could somehow see through the Sexy no Jutsu and see her real self underneath. She very nearly bolted for the exit door.  
  
"Oh, wow! You're so pretty!" blurted out the salesgirl. She touched her hand to her rosy cheek as she gazed a the lovely brunette standing before her.  
  
Sasuke mentally groaned to herself. It seemed that even as a girl, she couldn't escape the unwanted attention from females.   
  
What did she have to do to escape them?!  
  
"Oooh!" the girl continued, "Now 'this' is a good choice." The teen gazed at the black garment in Sasuke's arms before returning to gaze, starry-eyed, at Sasuke. "I bet you'd look absolutely devastatingly gorgeous in that."  
  
To Sasuke's mute, mixed relief and annoyance, Naruto chose that moment to wrap his arms around her waist.   
  
"Yeah!" Naruto, grinned his trademark fox smile. "Isn't my girlfriend beautiful?!"  
  
That salesgirl glared down at the blond boy with sheer disbelief warring with outrage on her face. "I don't believe it!" She looked, back and forth and back and forth from Naruto to Sasuke. "No way are you her boyfriend. She is not in you league, pipsqueak!"  
  
Sasuke fought back a smile at Naruto's outraged expression. Her amusement lasted until the blond boy demanded, "Tell her I'm your boyfriend, Sasuke!"  
  
The brunette could have strangled him for using her real, male name like that.   
  
She gritted her teeth to keep from screaming at Naruto for being such an absolute idiot and nodded at the girl, affirming what Naruto had told her.  
  
Instantly, the salesgirl looked horrified, before understanding filled her dark eyes. "Oh," she said, "I bet you're just taking care of him right? And that you just tell him to call you his girlfriend so he won't make a fuss about having to spend the entire day with you. I do the same thing when I have to baby-sit any boy."  
  
Naruto twitched at the idea of being babysat and growled, "That's not it at all!"  
  
"Well," growled the girl, right back at him. "You being her boyfriend doesn't make any sense whatsoever!"  
  
Sasuke gave up on both of them and walked into the changing room. She didn't want to get in the middle of that argument and she'd rather get this thing over with so she could return to being herself. Before anyone else got involved in this mess.  
  
"Hey!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke's back. "What for me!"  
  
The salesgirl tried to stop the blond boy but Naruto was just too fast for her. He jumped over her head and headed for the changing room Sasuke had disappeared into.  
  
The girl swore under her breath and went back to her magazine, while muttering dire threats to the blond boy. She still didn't believe he was the boyfriend of that gorgeous woman. Anyone who dated her had to be really extraordinary.   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Sasuke glared at the mirror and the reflection inside it glared right back. To her mind's eye, her female self looked too soft to handle anything remotely related to ninja attacks.  
  
It was all the curves, she thought with annoyance. It didn't show the muscle that she'd developed as a guy.   
  
She turned away from the mirror to the even more unwelcome sight of the black, silky lingerie hanging on a convenient hook.   
  
A furious knocking on the door made her muscles tense at the unexpected noise.  
  
"Hurry up, Sasuke!" called Naruto. "I don't want Sakura to come looking for us for being away for so long!"  
  
Sasuke didn't bother to answer him. With a grimace she started to take of her blue shirt.  
  
Outside the door, Naruto was trying not to panic. He hadn't even remembered Sakura until Sasuke reminded him but now he was aware that the pink haired girl could pop out of any corner. And if she saw what he was having Sasuke do, then there was going to be a world of hurt in store for him.  
  
But even with this danger he wasn't about to let Sasuke escape him so easily. He wanted to be able to remind Sasuke about this day for years to come and knowing how much he had embarrassed that cold bastard would make his day.   
  
His Week. Year! No, decade! Yeah, definitely his decade!  
  
"Sasuke," he whined. What could be taking so long? It wasn't like the lingerie was a multi-layered outfit or anything.  
  
He was about to knock on the door again when it opened.   
  
Naruto eyes widened.   
  
Standing before him with her long hair flowing all around her, was Sasuke wearing a delicate see-through mesh, half robe. The mesh theme continued with a blend of silk and mesh for the bra, giving Naruto tantalizing glimpses of Sasuke's breasts. Fish-net covered her torso but for a small hole over her belly button. Absentmindedly, Naruto noted that Sasuke was an innie, as his eyes wandered down to the silky black panties.   
  
Naruto could feel his nose throb. But he managed to control himself so that he didn't nosebleed.   
  
He was fine until a small corner of his mind wondered to itself how Sasuke would look if he was wearing a similar see-through mesh outfit while male.   
  
The mental image that accompanied the thought pushed his control over the edge.   
  
Two crimson streams of blood gushed from his nose with such force that he slammed right into the wall behind him. Then Naruto slowly slid to the floor.   
  
Unconscious.  
  
Stunned, Sasuke stood there for a minute. Her cheeks grew bright red when she realized what Naruto had to be thinking to get such a strong reaction. Then she sighed and said, "Idiot." Before slamming the door close so that she could get out of this torture device.  
  
She was faster in getting out of the lingerie than she was getting into it.   
  
Now, dressed in what were normal clothes, Sasuke stepped out of the dressing room. She mentally debated whether or not to leave Naruto on there as revenge for making her wear that 'thing', before deciding that she could come up with something better later.   
  
She slung the blond boy over her shoulder and walked out.   
  
The sales girl gave her a beaming smile which made Sasuke flinch. It was a good thing that she had decided to remain in the female form for a little while longer. It would have made the sales girl wonder why two boys were coming out of the fitting room when a girl and a guy had gone in.  
  
"Are you planning on buying it?" asked the girl, eagerly. The salesgirl grinned at the knocked out Naruto. She continued, "I can get it boxed and wrapped for you!"  
  
"…." Sasuke considered. The chance of Naruto returning to buy the garment and to use it against her was too great of a possibility for him to take such a risk. She gave the girl a small nod.  
  
The salesgirl cheerfully rung up the price and told the brunette. Sasuke pulled the money out of a pocket and gave it to her.   
  
When the salesgirl handed her the bag containing her purchase, Sasuke barely contained a grimace at the vividly pink color of it before she just grabbed it and headed for the exit of the store. She didn't even bother to turn around with the salesgirl called after her, "I hope you came back soon!"   
  
Sasuke just shuddered in terror.  
  
Outside the store, Sasuke headed into the nearest alley to change back. The whoosh, and fading cloud of chakra smoke was the only visible sign of his location.   
  
When he stepped out Sasuke headed for a nearby wooden bench. He carefully set Naruto's still unconscious boy on it. The brunet then put the pink bag into a nearby trash can.  
  
He then stepped back and moved his hands into a series of quick seals, ending with the horse then the tiger seal.   
  
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"  
  
A powerful fireball hit the trash can. Everything in it erupted into a tall gush of orange flame.  
  
Sasuke watched it burn with complete satisfaction. A grin curled up on his lips.  
  
He was so wrapped up in watching the flames consume the evidence of his humiliation that he didn't notice the freaked out stares of pedestrians, or the slow way that they all backed away.  
  
When the fire finally was nothing but ashes, Sasuke turned away and returned to Naruto. The blond boy was snoring away on the wooden bench, utterly obvious to the surrounding noise of the village.  
  
Sasuke walked closer and stared down at his rival.   
  
Hesitantly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handkerchief. He bent closer to the sleeping blond boy and gently wiped away the bloody mess on Naruto's face. Once he was satisfied that he had done the most he could do for him, Sasuke tucked the now reddish cotton material away.   
  
His dark eyes gazed at Naruto, without the normal coldness associated with Sasuke. Involuntarily, his fingers caressed the scars that looked so much like whiskers, on Naruto's cheek.   
  
His skin is so soft, and warm, Sasuke thought with quiet amazement.   
  
The pad of his thumb drifted from the curve of Naruto's cheek to his pink, moist lips. His finger lingered over the perfection of those lips until the urge to bend down and kiss them grew bigger and more tempting. Sasuke was moving down almost before he realized it, until he was but a couple of inches from Naruto's slightly parted mouth.  
  
That's when Naruto sighed in his sleep.   
  
The sound broke Sasuke's entranced spell. The boy jerked back from the blond and looked desperately around to see if anyone had seen him nearly kissing Naruto.  
  
The streets turned out to be strangely empty.   
  
Sasuke blinked in surprise then relaxed in relief. He didn't mean for his self-control to break like that. He had nearly giving in to his desire for the other boy. That was a feeling that he never even liked to admit even to himself. But now he knew that he couldn't deny it anymore. If there was one thing that day on the bridge had proven to him was that Naruto was more important to him than anyone else.  
  
His dark eyes flicked to Naruto. There was just something about Naruto that always affected him. Whether it was positive or negative emotions, the blond, more than anyone else always managed to get a reaction out of him. Even if he was doing nothing but sleeping and looking utterly adorable.   
  
"Hey, Sasuke!"   
  
Sasuke tensed at Sakura's call. He slowly turned to face her.   
  
The pink hair girl was barely visible behind a mountain of plastic, and paper bags. A desperate green eye peeked through at Sasuke. Sakura continued, "Can you help me, please?"  
  
Sasuke, with his stoic mask firmly in place, walked towards his teammate. "Why did you get so much stuff?" he asked gruffly, as grabbed half of the bags.  
  
"Well, at first I was only going to get the stuff that we need for Iruka-sensei, but there was a sale on some stuff I wanted to get and since I rarely get the time to shop, I figured I could just get it now," blurted Sakura. Inner Sakura grew starry eyed and claimed Sasuke was her hero when Sasuke took away half the weight.  
  
Sasuke didn't bother to answer her and walked back to Naruto.   
  
"What happened to Naruto?" asked Sakura, curiously when she saw her blond teammate on the bench. As she got closer she noticed the blood slightly crusting the edges of his nose. She grimaced and said hastily, "Never mind. I don't want to know!"  
  
Sasuke mentally sighed in relief. He asked, "Did you get everything that you need?" He really wanted to go home now.  
  
"No. But I think we've done enough shopping for today. I'm out of money," Sakura admitted. "We can continue tomorrow. You guys will be doing the paying that time though. I don't want to be the only one pitching in."  
  
"Fine," agreed Sasuke. He considered Naruto's sleeping body for a moment before deciding, "You're going to need to take back some of these bags. I can't carry Naruto and hold all of them."  
  
Sakura joined Sasuke in looking at the blond. "Can't we just leave him there? It's not like anything will happen to him." She wasn't looking forward to taking everything all the way home. It was practically on the other side of the village. But she was looking forward to having Sasuke all to herself without Naruto being his annoying self and constantly pestering her.  
  
Sasuke's eyes narrowed with mute anger. Leave Naruto, without so much as an explanation to what they had down, or where they had gone? Leave him alone and defenseless? Even in the Hidden Leaf Village, there was still an element of danger from it's inhabitants. It was a fairly large village, and like with any heavily populated area there were those dangerous to someone left as vulnerable as Naruto was at the moment.  
  
"No!" he snapped.  
  
Sakura jerked back. Her eyes grew dark with hurt before she sighed and nodded. Inner Sakura admitted that Sasuke was being a better teammate than her. What sort of ninja left a comrade alone without seeing to their safety? Kakashi-sensei would be severely disappointed in her.  
  
"Ok," she agreed softly.   
  
"Give me the things you bought for Iruka-sensei. I can take those and drop them off at Naruto's house." Sasuke voice was still cold. "We can meet tomorrow at his home."  
  
Sakura didn't argue. She didn't want Sasuke getting angrier at her. She knew that her words were pretty callous. She didn't mean to sound selfish and uncaring. She just wanted to spend time alone with Sasuke.  
  
The pink girl stared at the ground as Sasuke tried to figure the best way to balance the bags and Naruto. She mentally promised to 'think' about the things she said about Naruto before she said them. She kept opening her mouth and inserting her foot whenever she talked to Sasuke about him. It couldn't be raising his opinion of her, she thought.  
  
Finally, Sasuke had Naruto back over his shoulder using that arm to hold the boy in place while his free hand held the stuff that Sakura had picked out. He was glad that he had bothered to learn how to focus chakra onto your arms to increase your strength otherwise he would never have been able to do this.  
  
Before he turned away to leave, Sakura grabbed his arm. She asked hesitantly, "If Naruto wakes up, can you tell him that I want to talk to him tomorrow?"  
  
Sasuke nodded briskly. He then jumped up to the roofs to head for Naruto's house.  
  
Sakura gave all her stuff a despairing look. She wailed, "How am I suppose to get everything home?"  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Ooh, Naruto that was a mean, and rather hentai thing to do to Sasuke. *evil grin* Do it again!  
  
O_o That salesgirl is a tad obsessed. ^.^;; But what she said to Naruto was kind of funny.  
  
*sheepish grin* I know that I'm making Naruto be unconscious for a rather long time from just a nosebleed but he did hit that wall pretty hard….yup…that's my reason…. *realizes nobody is buying it* ^^;;  
  
Burn! Bwahahahaha! Burn object of Sasuke's humiliation!!! Burn! *cackles like the pyromaniac she is* Whoa….Sasuke…you sure scared a lot of people with that fireball jutsu….*grins*  
  
Aww, isn't Sasuke cute when he's acting all sweet to Naruto? Too bad he's out cold.  
  
*hits herself on the face* Oh, Sakura, you can be such an idiot. Be happy that I like you enough not to put you out of everyone's misery. Well, that and the fact that you are essential to the plot.  
  
*beams at everyone* Ooooh, Sasuke is going to take Naruto home! *giggles* The next SasuNaru scene that gets written should be veerrrrryyyy interesting! But it's not likely to be in the next chapter so don't get your hopes up everyone. *looks stern* Kakashi still has to deal with Shashin, after all.  
  
Hopefully, nobody got too confused with me using the female pronoun for Sasuke when he was in the Sexy no Jutsu form. ^.^  
  
And finally I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! And if you did you have to review! Otherwise how will I ever know?   
  
*blinks* Urmm… I should probably go write the next chapter…  
  
Review! Review! 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really feel like saying it right now. Get back to me in a few hundred years. *unhappy sigh* All screw-ups are still mine, though. *pout*  
  
Warning: dangerous darts, a doctor, and killer drugs  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PG-13ish  
  
Pairing: For the entire fic? - KakaIru and SasuNaru   
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *grins* Hi again everyone. Thanks as always for everyone that has been reading this fic and triple thanks for everyone that take time out of their precious lives to review. It's always appreciated.  
  
And err.. And why this chapter was late? *looks around frantically* I need a good excuse to why this chapter was so late! *Iruka-plushie whispers in her ear* Oh, yeah! I blame it all on Thanksgiving! *behind her Sasuke-plushie pulls out a sign that read - The real reason was that she was too lazy and spent nearly all her free time reading fanfic instead of writing*  
  
*howls* Don't tell people that! *looks nervous* I have another excuse. It will be in the second author's note though. Don't want to spoil anyone. ^^;;;  
  
*coughs* I also wanted to rec another fic. It is titled 'Growing Pains' by p-sama7. It's a wonderful KakaIru fic that starts off with them as children. I lurve it! It made me laugh and then nearly gnaw off my fingers in worry, then laugh again! So go on, and read it, well after you read my fic, and review it so we can get more chapters on that lovely piece of fanfic! Yay ficcie! ^.^  
  
Ok, go on and read the chapter. I shut up.  
  
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Kakashi walked next to Iruka. Every inch of him radiated completely enjoyment. In fact he radiated, cheerfulness so much that it caught the attention of nearly everyone they walked by, to their curious astonishment.  
  
But it just so happened that Kakashi, jounin class ninja, was having one of the best, and most memorable evenings of his relatively exciting and eventful life. He could not remember the last time that he had laughed so much, or so freely.   
  
Iruka was definitely influencing his mood. There was just something about the other man that was so calming and stimulating at the same time.  
  
Kakashi looked at over to the school teacher, a fond smile hidden under his mask. He was glad that he had decided to get to know the other man better. He never would have suspected the chunin of having such a wicked sense of humor. Or putting up such a good ramen fight. He really looked forward to what other surprises were in store for him!  
  
"Here we are," said Kakashi, cheerfully. He opened the door to the camera shop and turned to double check that Iruka was following him. Twice, he had caught the school teacher falling back because something had caught his attention until Kakashi backtracked and dragged him away.  
  
That's why he didn't see Shashin raising the blow-pipe to his mouth and carefully aiming it at the direction of the shop entrance and towards him.  
  
But Iruka could clearly see the older man over Kakashi's shoulder. And the chunin saw him blow forcefully into the pipe sending a quick gleam of green straight for them.  
  
His brown eyes widened. Instantly, Iruka blurred with speed as he rushed to shove Kakashi onto the wooden floor and out of the line of fire.  
  
"Oomph!" Kakashi hit the floor. He barely had time for feel surprise when his finely trained reflexes kicked in. The jounin pulled a knife out of his kunai holster as he rolled over to face the threat.  
  
All he saw was Shashin. It was a sight that made Kakashi pause since he didn't really place the old photographer high on the list of dangerous people that he faced.   
  
Then, he saw Shashin frown and reach for another dart. The silver haired man rushed him to stop him. Normally, Kakashi would enjoy having a nice rumble with Shashin but he didn't want to interrupt his evening with Iruka. And any good fight had to last longer than just a few minutes.  
  
The jounin was so busy being in combat mode that he failed to look behind him.  
  
If he had, Kakashi would have seen the metal dart scrap a raw, red line across Iruka's temple before nicking the top of his left ear. Both began to bleed profusely.  
  
The speeding dart continued along it's path and went straight out the door before plunging into the wooden post of a lamp light. Green liquid began oozing from the point and down the pole.  
  
The school teacher winced with pain. Instantly, his hand reached up to touch the flood of crimson on his cheek. But his attention was caught by Kakashi and the desire to help him took precedence over anything else. Even seeing to his own wounds.   
  
Iruka took one step forward but a strange dizziness made his knees buckle. He began a slow, and uncontrolled descent straight down.  
  
Firumu, was too startled by how quickly everything took place to ran out the door like he planned. He barely had the chance to blink when Kakashi had moved and yanked the blow pipe out of his Father's hands.   
  
Then, he noticed the other ninja who had entered with the jounin begin falling to the floor. Filled with concern he rushed towards him. His arms grasped the man around the waist but Firumu hadn't expected to have to catch all of the other man's weight. So together they abruptly sat on the floor of the shop.  
  
Firumu absently mindedly thanked whichever of his siblings had taken the time to sweep the floor yesterday. It was a good thing that it was very clean, this made it the second time today he had a close encounter with the floor! He was fervently hoping that there wouldn't be a third.  
  
*-*-*-*  
  
Once, Kakashi had pulled away Shashin's weapon of choice he cackled triumphantly, "Too slow again, old man!" His good humor about the entire situation lasted only until he turned back to look at Iruka. And his bloody face.  
  
Kakashi's cheerful mood quickly drained away. His single visible eye flared with rage. His fists clenched and the jounin was so angry that he didn't notice how he crumpled the blowpipe into metal scrap. He leapt away from the counter, bounding fast over the distance between him and Iruka. Furiously, he shoved Firumu away from the chunin.  
  
"Iruka! Are you alright?" Kakashi's voice was tightly controlled but hints of frantic worry leaked through.   
  
Iruka struggled to speak to soothe the fear he could hear in the other man's voice. He couldn't have the man he cared about so much suffer in any way. Sluggishly, he tried to respond, "I'm….ok…just.. feel…drowsy….dizzy…"  
  
Gently, Kakashi set Iruka back on the floor. He stood up and stalked towards Shashin. The older man had finally noticed that he had hit an innocent bystander and was growing concerned. When, Shashin saw the flame of anger in Kakashi's eye, it took all his pride to stand still as he got closer, instead of taking a dive for safety out the back of the store.  
  
The jounin grasped front of Shashin's shirt and raised effortlessly him into the air with one hand. The other hand held a sharp kunai up to the old photographer's neck.  
  
"What," grated Kakashi through clenched teeth, "was in that dart?!"  
  
Shashin struggled for breath and wheezed, "It was a knockout drug. That's all!"  
  
Firumu didn't bother to go help his father. At this point, he figured that he deserved whatever Kakashi Hatake dished out to him. But the other man, the one he heard the jounin call Iruka, Firumu was worried about him.   
  
In the seconds that it took for Kakashi to begin interrogating Shashin, Iruka's breathing had grown labored. As if he had to put in more and more effort just to get air in his lungs. He managed to gasp out, "Can't…breathe…" But it was so low that only one person heard him.  
  
Those words tore through Firumu's indecision about his next course of action. Not even pausing to inform Kakashi or his father of his actions, the young man bolted out the door.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Kakashi. "A knockout drug wouldn't have such a strong reaction! Iruka barely got hit with whatever it was. Anything that got inside him would have been less than a drop but look at him now!"  
  
Both men looked over to the chunin laying on the floor. They noticed the way he struggled to breathe.  
  
Kakashi instantly dropped Shashin and rushed back to his friend's side. The old man landed on his knees before getting back on his feet and following the jounin. Concern for the man he hit overriding anything else that he could think.  
  
Kakashi wrapped an arm around Iruka, pulling him up and against his chest. He lay two fingers on the school teacher's neck. He felt the pounding of Iruka's heart which was thundering away, faster than was normal but within seconds that ceaseless biological machine began to stutter as if it was being forced to come to an unnatural stop.  
  
The silver haired man shut his one visible eye as if in denial of what he was witnessing, of what was happening right before him.  
  
No, he thought with dull pain, not again. I can't lose another friend again. I just started to get to know him……this can't be happening.  
  
Please…..Don't die. Not now……please.  
  
His mental pleas were interrupted when the door to the photo-shop slammed open. Kakashi's eye, shining with held back tears, opened to see Firumu, who was panting and disheveled, pull inside a man wearing a doctor's coat.  
  
"Here he is Doctor Mesu," panted Firumu, while pointing down at Iruka.   
  
The doctor quickly knelt down to his patient and opened up his black bag to check the chunin's symptoms.  
  
Kakashi was so glad to see him, he could have kissed him!   
  
Without his mask!  
  
"What happened?" growled Doctor Mesu. Firumu quickly brought him up to date. When the young man mentioned the green liquid filled darts, the doctor gave Shashin a cold inquiring look. "What kind of drug was in it?"  
  
Shashin mumbled, "Etorphine."  
  
The doctor's eyes widened in horrified shock.  
  
He yelled, "You idiot! That's a tranquilizer used to knock out big game animals! Like elephants and rhinoceros! It's not suppose to be used on people! Just one drop is so powerful that it can kill a man!"   
  
All three men glared accusingly at Shashin, who just squirmed. What could he possibly say? His actions were based on a substance he had used and had been ignorant of it's effect. And that lack of knowledge had almost cost a man his life.  
  
Firumu shook his head in exasperation. That was the last straw. He was going to have a talk with the rest of his siblings about Father's behavior. It couldn't go on. They were lucky this time that the doctor had his clinic open, since he was known to have erratic hours. If Doctor Mesu had been on another house call, Firumu shuddered. He didn't want to contemplate such a dismal possibility. Maybe, all his father needed was to have a nice, long vacation.   
  
Kakashi also shuddered as the realization of how closely the chunin had come to death, and convulsively tightened his hold on Iruka.   
  
He blinked down at the chunin as he also realized that Iruka had pushed him out of the way. The other man had saved his life. He hadn't even sensed any danger, since he was so used to Shashin's actions. Right now, Konoha village could have lost one it's jounin but for the intervention of Iruka.   
  
Doctor Mesu, dived into this bag and pulled out a syringe with a rather long needle. He also dug out a vial of dark purple liquid. The doctor filled the syringe, grabbed Iruka's arms to locate a vein, swabbed it with a cotton ball of alcohol and slowly pressed in the needle.  
  
Fortunately, for Kakashi's nerves, Iruka's breathing even out, even his heart rate began returning back to a normal rhythm. Now, the only thing that worried the jounin was that Iruka was still unconscious.   
  
"He should be waking up soon," Doctor Mesu, reassured Kakashi, when he noticed the worried look in his eye. "The drug just needs a moment longer to circulate throughout his body."  
  
As if triggered by the doctor's words, Iruka coughed and twitched in Kakashi's arms.   
  
"See!" continued the doctor. He pulled out a bandage and started cleaning up the blood on Iruka's face and ear. Once he was satisfied that his patient was going to be just fine, Doctor Mesu walked over to Shashin. He latched onto his ear with tightening fingers and dragged the older man into the back of the store, protesting all the way.  
  
Doctor Mesu ignored what he said and scowled at the photographer. "Now, you and I are going to have a long, long talk about the sort of drugs the human body can and can't take!"  
  
Firumu couldn't even dredge up a tinge of sympathy for his own father, even though the doctor looked like he wanted to perform some major surgery on his skull, without the use of any analgesic. Or even well sharpened instruments.  
  
"Wha-What happened?" whispered Iruka, as he tried to sit up. He mentally wondered why his eyes seemed to refuse the commands from his brain to open up. It was as if they were glued shut.  
  
A firm, gloved hand helped him up. The familiar warm scent of the man he loved surrounded him. The memory of Kakashi burned away the mental grogginess like the blazing sun on the fog of an early morning. He gasped and forced his eyes to finally open to the welcome sight of Kakashi's face, well to be absolutely accurate, his one eye and masked face. Anxiously, Iruka asked, "Are you alright?"  
  
Kakashi smiled with relief. It seemed that Iruka was back to normal. "I'm fine," he answered. "You were the one that had us worried."  
  
"What's going on?" Iruka asked again. He just noticed that he was on the floor, and he couldn't help but wonder when that had happened.  
  
"My father," answered Firumu, "Was being an idiot, again."   
  
Iruka's eyes flickered over to the young, dark-haired man sitting next to him. He was glaring at the back of the store. Curiously, the chunin shifted over to look in the same direction and heard muted shouts and a few muffled thumps coming from there. The chunin felt baffled by the lack of concern on the face of either man.  
  
When, Kakashi's arms tightened around him to keep him steady as Iruka wobbled when he'd turned to look, it brought riveting attention to fact that he was laying in the other man's arms. His whole body was leaning again Kakashi. The back of his head rested against the jounin's shoulder. Maybe, he really had died and was now in Paradise?  
  
A quickly darkening blush surged up into Iruka's cheeks. He couldn't help but feel delighted at the silver haired man's closeness. Now, he wasn't in any hurry to move.   
  
Carefully, Kakashi helped Iruka stand up. Once he got the chunin of his feet, the silver haired man hovered nearby, prepared to move with super-speed if Iruka made any kind of unsteady move.  
  
Feeling no shame in enjoying his closeness to Kakashi, Iruka was reluctant to let the other man go. Only the desire to reduce the worried look in his eyes made the school teacher take a hesitant step forward.  
  
Firumu noticed all that and grinned to himself. It seemed as if Kakashi had finally picked someone to keep him out of trouble. He also ran over to the cashier side of the store and pulled out a small stool kept there to give the person on the register a chance to rest his or her feet.  
  
"Steady," whispered Kakashi. He had to suppress the urge to grab Iruka and carry him over to the chair. He didn't think the brunet would appreciate it.  
  
With a relieved sigh, Iruka lowered himself onto the rather shaky stool. He was full of determination to finally get a real answer out of the two other man. "So," he asked with exasperation, "Can someone, please, tell me what's going on?"   
  
Kakashi and Firumu exchanged looks. Then Shashin's son, looking grim, began to tell the victim of his father's actions. He began from when he first seen his father pull out the blow-pipe before backtracking to how everything started when he noticed Iruka's confused expression.  
  
Quietly, Iruka listened to everything. His brown eyes flicked over to Kakashi in surprise when he learned of the history between him and Shashin. 'A bazooka?' he mouthed to Kakashi, who nodded and moved his arms apart to show him how big it had been. The chunin nearly grinned at Kakashi's smug look at that victory.  
  
When, Firumu finally winded down, Iruka looked very concerned. He had read about the drug, Etorphine. It had been mentioned in a few of his text books with very clear warnings on it's dangers. It was considered illegal in most countries, since it was about 1,000 times more powerful than the strongest analgesic that the human body could take. That Shashin, was able to get his hands on so much of it was something that would have to be checked out by some research teams, in case any more of it was being bought elsewhere.  
  
Muttered curses caught the attention of all three men and they turned to see the doctor returning. Shashin was not behind him.  
  
"You didn't kill him. Did you?" asked Firumu, with a touch of worry. There was no sound coming from the back room.  
  
"If I had he would have deserved it!" Doctor Mesu, grumbled. When he saw Iruka sitting up, he grinned with delight. "Ahh! I'm glad to see you fully awake. How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm a little groggy, and my balance is a little off," answered Iruka, truthfully. "But at least the room has stopped spinning."  
  
Doctor Mesu, hummed to himself and pulled out another syringe from his black bag. He barely filled it with a clear liquid which he then stabbed into Iruka's arm.  
  
The chunin winced. He hated getting shots. He preferred getting his blood drawn. It hurt a lot less.  
  
"What was that?" Kakashi asked. He didn't think that Iruka needed any more drugs in his system.  
  
"It's just a little adrenaline," answered the doctor. "It's perfectly harmless. It will help with the grogginess." He turned back to Iruka, "Now, I want you to go straight home and get plenty of rest. Also, is there someone who can stay with you?"  
  
Before Iruka could respond with a negative, Kakashi said, "I'll do it. I can keep an eye on him."  
  
"You don't have to do that," argued Iruka.  
  
"Yes, I do." Kakashi gratefully touched Iruka's shoulder. "I owe you one for pushing me out of the way."  
  
"Good!" The doctor clapped his hands. "I'm glad that's settled." Turning to Kakashi he continued, "You'll need to keep a firm eye on him in case he develops any sort of delayed reaction. Whether it's allergic or not. Also, don't let him fall asleep for at least a couple more hours even if he wants to, and when he is sleeping, be sure to wake him up every few hours."  
  
"I thought that was only for concussions," asked Iruka. The idea of Kakashi spending another night over made him rather happy about having to deal with all that hassle.  
  
"I don't want to take any chances with Etorphine," said Doctor Mesu. "If anything does happen, get him to the nearest medical facility as fast as you can."  
  
Kakashi nodded in agreement. He wasn't going to let the chunin out of his sight for even a second.  
  
Iruka stood up to go and nearly kneeled over from the weakness in his legs. That made Kakashi frown. Before Iruka could protest, the jounin grabbed him and slung in over his shoulder.  
  
From his new position, Iruka sputtered. This was completely undignified. He howled, "KAKASHI!"  
  
His shout only made the silver haired man grin. He patted Iruka's butt with a gloved hand, as if to calm him down.  
  
It did silence the chunin, but only because he was too busy turning bright red and being shocked to get his breath back to scream at Kakashi.  
  
Kakashi swiftly formed his hands into a seal and vanished, with his chunin cargo in tow, from the camera shop with a whoosh of chakra smoke.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: *sniffs* My poor Iruka!! *sobs and hugs her Iruka-plushie* You nearly died! T.T Whaaa! Iruka that was so brave! It's so sweet how much you care for Kakashi! *sniffs* But Kakashi you should have kept a better eye on him! *growls* He could have been really hurt!  
  
O_O Wow, Kakashi got pretty mad over seen Iruka bleeding. *starts to cry again* And he in so much anguish about Iruka nearly dying! Poor Kakashi!  
  
*screams in anger and pulls out a giant battle-ax* Die Shashin! How dare you! You hurt Iruka!  
  
*huggles Firumu* Thank you....*sniffs* If you hadn't gotten the doctor....*quiet sobs*  
  
Go Doctor! Beat some sense into Shashin! *growls* As his creator you have my complete permission to maim.  
  
*shocked* Whoa! Kakashi, I thought Iruka was the opportunistic one! I still thought you were in the friendship stage! You didn't tell me you were at the shamelessly groping stage!  
  
*coughs* Well, my second reason this chapter was so late, it is really difficult for me to write Iruka in such danger. I kept wanting to scream and hide my head under a pillow.  
  
Also, Mesu, according to my little English to Japanese dictionary, means scalpel. *grins* Yeah, bad of me...I couldn't help it!  
  
I also did a little research. Etorphine, is a real drug, that is used to take down elephants and it really is that deadly. According to the references I found, it is considered to be 1,000 times more deadly than morphine. Though, stuff like the symptoms and the color [it's usually red], I completely made up!  
  
Let me know what you think of this chapter! Review please, even if it's just to scream at me about hurting Iruka, too. It's no less than what I'm doing to myself.  
  
Until next chapter! 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really feel like saying it right now. Get back to me in a few hundred years. *unhappy sigh* All screw-ups are still mine, though. *pout*  
  
Warning: narrow window escape, a kissing mystery and recollections  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PGish  
  
Pairing: For the entire fic? - KakaIru and SasuNaru   
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: First off, I want to thank everyone that reviewed in the previous chapter as well as thank everyone for their patience in waiting for this chapter to be posted. *beams* I was so stunned by the sheer numbers of reviews that I stared at the computer screen for up to 5 minutes, utterly speechless!  
  
*nervous* Secondly, I actually have a real reason to why it's so late as opposed to the last chapter in which I was just being lazy. In *counts on fingers* 4 days I'm leaving the US for 6 months to spend it with family in a tiny country known more for it's canal then anything else.   
  
Don't panic! My laptop is coming with me! ^.^ So, as you can do doubt guess, for the last week & a half I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get everything packed, buy everything I need, and trying to decided which of my DVDs, books, and yaoi doujinshi I can stand to part with and which I can't. *weak grin* It was a rather long and involved debate of whether doujinshi could be considered more important than clothes. Between that and work it's been so hectic I haven't even gotten the chance to read any ficcies. T.T Truly a fate worse than death.  
  
Oh! Before I forget! Last time I recommended p-sama7's fic but this time I'm reccing her twin RukaIayLomperGay's fic 'Forbidden Jutsu'. Another great fic, with not only KakaIru, but also SasuIru and NaruIru, [practically any male and Iruka is a pairing I love reading!] and crazy fangirlsIru….just kidding. *beams happily* I've noticed another chapter has been posted that I haven't read yet, so I'll be wandering over soon!  
  
*Sasuke-plushie growls* I noticed I wasn't on the list of things you're taking with you but Iruka was on it.   
  
*JD sweat-drops* Err….well….I…. *screams and runs* RUNAWAY!!! *Sasuke-plushie chases*  
  
*Iruka-plushie sighs* Go read this chapter before the bloodbath begins.  
  
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With a grin on his face, Firumu watched them leave. It hit him a second later that the photograph prints that had been the whole purpose to the ninjas arriving to the store were still in their envelope behind the cashier counter. The young man thumped his face, in complete exasperation. Well, all the excitement made a rather good excuse for his forgetfulness.  
  
It wouldn't be the first time that they had to hold Kakashi's photographs for as long as it took the jounin to stop by and pick them up. Sometimes, the missions that the ninja had to take sprung up unexpectedly. Nearly everyone that knew any elite ninja was well aware of the kind of erratic schedule that they lived under, and had long since learned to compensate for it.  
  
Firumu wandered over to Doctor Mesu and asked him if he wanted a hand in packing his medial supplies away.   
  
The doctor waved away his help but then asked, "Where are the darts your Father bought? I'm not leaving such a dangerous substance laying around for anyone to get their careless hands on them."  
  
Firumu nodded with complete agreement. He shivered in memory of the doctor's words on how dangerous the stuff turned out to be. And Father had them lying around the shop as if they were nothing. He had little nieces and nephews that liked to explore every nook and cranny of the shop whenever they visited.   
  
What if one of them had gotten a hold of one of those darts? Firumu scowled. This definitely was the last straw.  
  
The young man picked up the wooden box filled with the darts and handed them over to the doctor. He then remembered the dart that flew out the door and ran out to get it, swearing and hoping that no one had tried to touch it.  
  
When Firumu, returned he had the thing cradled in his shirt, he was too nervous about actually touching it with his bare skin. He felt like one of those old women that had to get rid of a dead mouse brought to them by one of their cats. With a disgusted face he held his shirt out so that the doctor could get it.   
  
Doctor Mesu, looked at the leaking green fluid at the tip of the dart and grabbled a tweezers from his bag. He gently lifted the dart from Firumu's shirt and tucked into a plastic bag before putting in into his bag.   
  
"You better get rid of that," said the doctor as he noticed a stain of green on the young man's shirt. "Wouldn't want you accidentally contaminate anything you could put into your mouth."  
  
Firumu blanched at the thought and ran to the back of the store to tear it off and get a another shirt.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Sasuke walked carefully to not wake up Naruto, who was lightly snoring on his shoulder. He sighed in relief as he saw the blond boy's house.  
  
The sooner he got Naruto there, the sooner he could go home.  
  
When he finally got to the door, he realized that he couldn't get any hand free to open the door much less a hand to dig in Naruto's pockets to find the key to release the lock. Exasperated, he looked up to the windows to check if any of them had been left open. Luck was with him, the window leading to Naruto's bedroom was still open from this morning.   
  
Sasuke focused the charka to his feet and started walking up the wall. The angle was made it very difficult to carry someone and he nearly dropped Naruto, more than once. He ended up nearly crushing the bags with the supplies for Iruka's present, trying to free a hand to hold onto Naruto.   
  
Finally inside the room, Sasuke put down the bags and carefully lowered Naruto onto his bed. He gave the stuff in the bags a quick check to see if they were alright then he looked back a Naruto to check if the boy was still sleeping. His breath caught in his throat at he swallowed down, hard.  
  
The only light in the room came from the window and the angle was just right that it illuminated Naruto's sleeping face, giving him a angelic and supremely sexy look.  
  
The suppressed desire to kiss the blond boy refused to stay suppressed. Sasuke's libido was having a downright cheerful time telling Sasuke that now was to perfect time to lay a smacker on those lips.  
  
Sasuke had to jerk his gaze to the opposite wall so he wasn't tempted by the blond. He tried to ignore the impulses and hormones flooding his body. He couldn't kiss Naruto, he mentally argued with himself. They were rivals. Naruto wouldn't understand.  
  
He's unconscious, pointed out the oh-so-helpful corner of his mind, there is no way that he can know unless you tell him.  
  
Sasuke glared at the far wall, as if it had personally offended him. Only, Naruto could do this. Only, he could make him argue with himself like he was losing his mind.  
  
Annoyed at the influence Naruto had on him, Sasuke turned away and stalked to the window. He was so ready to leave that he would have been able to make it home but he made a crucial error.  
  
He looked back.  
  
Somehow, during his mental soliloquy, Naruto had moved around so that he was on curled up on his side, his knees pulled close to his belly, an open arm was slung across the mattress and clutching the sheets. And his other hand was tucked up, and open cradling his cheek. A small, innocent smile graced Naruto's pink lips.  
  
It was a sight that nearly made Sasuke's heart stop.  
  
Hypnotized, he slowly walked back to the blond. The dark eyed boy knelt right next to Naruto and slowly lowered his head to press a sweet kiss to the other boy's lips.   
  
Sasuke's eyes fluttered close as he was overwhelmed by the explosion of sparks that seemed to burst from his heart. He dared to open his mouth and let the tip of his tongue caress Naruto's lips, trying to taste the other boy.  
  
He wondered to himself, is this what happiness feels like?   
  
It had been too long since he had felt that emotion. It had been years.  
  
A low moan made him jerk back and made him freeze. Naruto was waking up and to Sasuke's horror, his blue eyes were opening up.  
  
Less than a second later Sasuke was out the window.  
  
Naruto blinked at the empty room him confusion. He could have sworn that he had sensed somebody in the room but he hadn't really seen anything. He touched his lips, they were wet.   
  
Either he had drooled in his sleep again. Or someone had been kissing him!   
  
A quick glance at the bed ruled out drooling. Naruto jumped from his bed to the window and looked down. The entire street was nearly clear, considering the hour, everyone was heading home. The only people he saw was a couple walking hand in hand.   
  
He slumped in disappointment and went back inside.  
  
Above the window, plastered to the wall, not breathing and mentally praying that the blond would 'not' look up was Sasuke.  
  
Only, when the window was slammed close did Sasuke suck in a lungful of fresh air. That had been close!   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Inside, Naruto didn't bother going back to bed. He tried to figure out who had been in his bedroom. He could have sworn that there had been someone there but all he remembered seeing was a dark blue blur.  
  
Lost in thought, Naruto headed for the kitchen to make some ramen. He hadn't had to chance to eat any for nearly three hours! For the growing boy that was way too long to go without having any of his most favorite of foods. Ramen swiftly pushed away the thoughts of the mysterious kisser in his room.  
  
Naruto was jiggling in place, impatiently waiting for the three minutes his instant ramen needed before he could start digging in when memory struck.   
  
He had gotten to see Sasuke in the Sexy no Jutsu! And wearing lingerie!  
  
"Hahahahaha!" Naruto fell over laughing like a maniac. He lay there on the floor giggling as he remembered the gloriously funny look on Sasuke's face when he had seen the lingerie he had picked out.  
  
And then when Sasuke had come out of the dressing room, he thought gleefully. Then he blushed when he remembered the last thought he had. Naruto could feel the pressure of another nosebleed building up.  
  
He clutched at his nose and swore. The boy tried to think of anything that could get his mind off Sasuke in a sexy outfit. Like demon cats…Sasuke's scary fan girls….ack…that just made him think of Sasuke again…..maybe….the Third Hokage in a thong?  
  
"Oh that's just sick," Naruto grimaced. Yeah, that did it. He shuddered and rubbed at his eyes as if to scrub the image from his mind.  
  
The smell his chicken ramen drifting in the air made the queasiness in his belly die down. So, he jump up and grab his chopsticks so that he could start attacking his food.  
  
The blond boy devoted his entire concentration on eating and enjoying every noodle of his ramen dinner. He was like a super-vacuum cleaner sucking up every tiny little bit of ramen. Naruto was able to finish eating in under a minute.  
  
Once he finished, Naruto pushed the empty styrofoam container away and returned to thinking about who could have been kissing him.  
  
He wondered, Could it have been Sakura?   
  
Naruto chewed his lower lip and furrowed his brow as he tried to think.  
  
But then he realized that the pink haired girl didn't wear so much blue that she would because a blue blur when she moved quickly. There really wasn't anyone else that he knew that would even think about him….unless….Sasuke?  
  
Naruto's eye bulged out at that idea, before shaking his head in denial. There was just no way that the cold bastard would kiss anyone. Just look at all those cute girls that threw themselves at him all the time. He never even looked at them.   
  
But…if it really was Sasuke….  
  
Naruto blushed. The other boy was pretty cute. A total jerk and baka but a cute one. If it had been him….  
  
Aargh! What was he thinking?!   
  
The blond boy gripped his hair and yanked! It was a futile attempt to get the pain to erase the thoughts he had just had.  
  
"We're rivals!" he howled to the kitchen appliances that were listening. "We don't even like each other! Much less like each other 'that' way!"   
  
The appliances remained skeptical.  
  
Naruto growled. This was all the fault of the lingerie today. If he hadn't made Sasuke wear it for the bet then these sort of thoughts would never have started up in his brain.   
  
The blond boy blinked. Wait a minute…..What was he doing staying at home for?!  
  
He had less then 48 hours to use the dark eyed boy as his slave and he was spending driving himself crazy when he could be doing that to Sasuke! Was he nuts?!   
  
Instantly, Naruto became a whirlwind of activity before running out his house.   
  
He had a Uchiha to torment!  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
When they reappeared, the first thing Iruka noticed was that he wasn't at his house. He didn't recognize any of it. Even upside down and recovering from being drugged, Iruka was certain that he could tell if any of the furniture was his, and it certainly wasn't. Where was he?  
  
"Here we are, home sweet home," said Kakashi, answering Iruka mental question.  
  
Interested, Iruka tried to push himself up, using Kakashi to brace himself. "This is your house?"  
  
"More like apartment," said the jounin, as he walked over to the couch, onto which he gently dropped the chunin.  
  
Iruka bounced and the springs in the sofa squeaked before he sank into the cushions. Involuntarily, he closed his brown eyes as his fast change in position made the room begin lazy spin.  
  
Kakashi noticed and dropped to his knees next to the chunin. Concerned, he grasped the other man's knee and asked, "Are you alright, Iruka?"  
  
"I'm ok," Iruka forced his eyes open and smiled weakly at the jounin. "The room suddenly decided to change positions that's all. I'm alright. It's stopped now."  
  
"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked. He remembered that doctor's explicit instruction and wondered, rather frantically, if this counted as a symptom.  
  
"I'm fine," Iruka nearly melted at the worry he could see in Kakashi's eye. Even if the man's concern was just that over a fellow ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, seeing it warmed his heart. It also made it easy to pretend, even for just a few seconds, that there was more behind it. "Thank you, for caring."  
  
"I-" Kakashi looked away, and mumbled, "I care because you're my fr-friend."  
  
Iruka felt as if a bolt of lighting had struck him. Every single cell in his body tingled. This was more than he could have hoped for to happen in just a day. It was impossible for the school teacher to prevent the smile that grew on his face.  
  
"But it probably isn't a good idea," continued Kakashi, "for us to be friends."  
  
"Wha-" Iruka gasped. His bright world plummeted into darkness. His building hope that there could be more between them nearly shattered but it held. By the thinnest of margins, it held together. "What do you mean?"  
  
Gravely, Kakashi sat down next to Iruka on the sofa. "Everyone I've ever cared about had died."  
  
Iruka grew silent.  
  
"My parents were both jounin," continued the silver haired man. "They were sent on so many missions that I saw them a handful of times a year as I was growing up. But even with that distance between us, I loved them. They were my parents. Then they were killed, just a few months after I became a genin.  
  
Iruka bit his tongue to muffle his exclamation of shock. He'd been so young!  
  
"Then my one of my teammates was killed on a mission that had been ranked at D," continued Kakashi. "I were as close to friends as it's possible to be when genins. Her loss was a completely unexpected."  
  
Iruka bit his lip and looked away from the jounin. He knew what loosing a teammate felt like but he wasn't about to interrupt Kakashi just to say so. It seemed that they had more in common then he originally suspected.  
  
"You know about the Fourth Hokage. Let's say that after a few years and losing my best friend in the entire world, I got the clue. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time may be enemy action but the fourth time it's fate trying to make you get a clue. Everyone I care about dies." Kakashi looked at Iruka to see if he thought he was being pathetic by the chunin just looked sad and thoughtful.  
  
There was silence between the two men before Iruka hesitantly said, "I use to feel the same way after I lost my parents. Then, after I became a genin both of my teammates were killed during the chunin exam. I guess, I spent a lot of time thinking about it."  
  
Iruka gave Kakashi a steady look, his brown eyes were still thoughtful. "People die all the time for every kind of reason. From: sickness, assassination, accidents, suicide, old age, or just plain stupidity. Deaths can be considered tragic, odd, or even heroic. And it can happen all the time."  
  
To the chunin's eyes, Kakashi seemed to really the listening to what he said so he took a fortifying breath and continued. "Death isn't a privilege reserved only for ninjas or even the people the we care about. It's something that happens to everyone. Caring about someone is rarely a cause for death, but not caring about anyone can be a fate worse than death even if opening your heart can end in sorrow." Iruka ran out of words to express a philosophy that he tried to live with.  
  
The words were hardly empty. The jounin knew some history about Iruka and knew that the man had experienced more heartache at an early age than most adults in the village. That knowledge, that there was someone who had experienced similar losses but had found a way to deal with the grief made him more accepting of the other man had to say.  
  
They remained silent a while longer as Kakashi mulled over the other man's words. They struck a cord in the jounin and seemed to cover a soothing balm over a open wound which never really stopped hurting.   
  
"When did you ever get so wise?" asked Kakashi, humor leaking back into his voice. His question effectively broke the serious mode in the room.   
  
Iruka smiled and teased back, "Don't you know? It's part of the requirement in order to teach at the Ninja Academy."  
  
"Oh, it's that what you need to be a school teacher! I didn't know." The silver haired man clasped Iruka's left hand and turned it over so that he could trace the chunin's life line. It was reassuringly long. "So I take it you still want to risk being friends with me. Even though you could have died today?"  
  
Iruka's hand tingled from the tracing of Kakashi's warm fingertip. Then the chunin answered with a whispered, "I could die any day, it's a risk I'm willing to take. Yes, I still want us to be friends." And more, he mentally added, if you'll let me.  
  
"Ok," agreed Kakashi, his voice soft. Not bothering to think about his actions he dropped a swift kiss onto the other man's palm.   
  
The sensitive skin on Iruka's hands allowed him to feel the shape of Kakashi's lips even through the mask. The chunin swallowed down his surge of desire. He could feel his cheeks heating up again.   
  
Fascinated, Kakashi watched the flush of red expand across the scar on Iruka's nose. He was so entranced that the jounin didn't notice himself moving forwards until he could feel the other man's moist, warm breath on the bit of exposed skin on his face.  
  
It snapped his out of his be-spelled state. Flustered, over his lack of self-control, Kakashi mumbled a hurried excuse about needing to make coffee before vanishing into the kitchen.  
  
Iruka stared after the disappeared jounin and felt severe disappointment. For a moment there, he thought that the other man was going to kiss him. But it was probably his hopes making him see things.  
  
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TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: *grins* I hope the beginning of this chapter helped tie up any lose ends. I actually was going to add this to the previous chapter but I ended up doing a mental edit and cutting it out.  
  
Yay! More SasuNaru! Sasuke is actually kissed Naruto! Whoohooo!   
  
*snickers* And Naruto suspects that truth but isn't ready to accept it. *giggles* Go forth Naruto! Go torment Sasuke! Maybe the chance for more kissage will turn up!  
  
O_o;; Oooh, I hope that Kakashi wasn't to OC in that scene when he was talking about his past. And if he was I blame it on the fact that he was still emotionally vulnerable after what happened to Iruka…yup…that's it. I needed something to start him getting over his intimacy hangups. *grumpy* Silly, jounin with emotional issues.  
  
*beams* Iruka has a long life line. After, what happened to him last chapter, I needed that. *sighs with relief*  
  
Ok, so that's it for this chapter. *waves* See you all next time….Don't forget to review now!  
  
REVIEW!….pwease? 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really feel like saying it right now. Get back to me in a few hundred years. *unhappy sigh* All screw-ups are still mine, though. *pout*  
  
Warning: dark memories, kiddie Kakashi and a treetop brooding. This chapter has more angst than previous ones, though fluffy bits still creeped in.  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PG  
  
Pairing: For the entire fic? - KakaIru and SasuNaru   
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: Before I say anything, *throws herself to the floor* I'm sooooo sorry that this chapter took so long to post! I just didn't get the time to write! Please I don't want to be beaten to a pulp!   
  
*Sasuke-plushie scowls* You're being pathetic.  
  
*coughs* Well…let move on…. HUGE thanks to everyone who has read this story. I still can't believe that there are so many people that enjoy it! And super-thanks to the ninth power for everyone that reviews. Each and every single review is adored.  
  
I also have another recommendation! *happy bounce* The fic is titled Compensate by Silver-blue Dolphin. I warn you though, its NOT a happy fic. Very dark and bloody so be prepared. And if its not your cup of tea just don't read it. No one's holding it against you, promise.  
  
*beams* I'm gonna stop babbling now. I know I'm just getting in the way. So go on, read the ficcie. I know you want to.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Upon entering the kitchen Kakashi could have smacked himself for being such an idiot. He was still having a hard time about accepting Iruka as a friend and now he wanted more?   
  
The jounin growled at himself. The other man probably didn't even find other men attractive.  
  
Also, part of him couldn't help but feel that such emotions for anyone, not just for the chunin, would be a betrayal of Obito's memory.  
  
He felt like this because his best friend in the entire world had also been his first love. Kakashi lived with the aching regret that he never plucked up the courage to tell him that, to find out if there could have been more between them. Their relationship had been very close, usually so for two elite ninjas in the same team facing dangers every day. Most elite ninjas closed themselves off having seen too much death by the time they reached their high level rank. But they hadn't, at least not for each other.  
  
The lack of closure in terms of his the depth of his feelings for his friend made the grief remain razor blade sharp even after so many years. It hadn't helped him that the part of him that felt responsible for the deaths of everyone he cared for was certain that it was his love for Obito that had lead to his death.  
  
Lost in thought, Kakashi was vaguely aware of his actions as he searched the cupboards of his kitchen for instant coffee. He used to hate it before he learned that if kept better over long periods of time. His fingers found the red colored jar he pulled it out and set it on the counter. He automatically filled two large mugs with water from the tap.  
  
The jounin bit back a swallow of guilt over his actions with Iruka. Maybe, becoming such quick friends with him would somehow show he no longer cared about Obito's memory and keeping his spirit alive.   
  
The part of Kakashi's mind trained to react with cold logic knew that these thought processes didn't make sense but emotions often didn't react logically.   
  
The strangling feelings of grief and ever-present guilt reclaimed their familiar hold on him. Crystal clear memories of that awful night, in the rain and the blood-soaked mud, resurfaced as they did and had for nearly every day since.   
  
His skin trembled as he remembered the biting cold and his hands clenched as if holding knifes for a fight. That nightmare had begun with him finding a familiar dismembered hand, nearly hidden in the swirling muddy water. It hadn't been Obito's but it had been of a teammate. That find was only a slim warning to everything else he would find.   
  
The 'S' class missing-nin they had been assigned to hunt had a sick penchant for mutilating his victims as much as he could while letting them live so he could enjoy their pain and fear as they descended into death.   
  
They had been tracking him for days. What they hadn't known was that he had known they were following and deliberately led them into his lair which he controlled completely. It had been a trap. Sprung, quietly and suddenly like all good traps. One by one, the missing nin had captured the Anbu squad. The criminal had played vicious mind games, leaving bits and pieces for the remaining teammates to find. They had desperately tried to stop him. But the missing nin had been too good and couldn't be caught by every plan they thought up. His entire team vanished into his hands until only Obito and he were left.   
  
The only reason that Obito had been the next one to get captured instead of him was because his best friend had insisted that he take point. Normally, that had been Kakashi's position, but Obito had argued that his Sharingan would serve them both better if he was the one looking for the traps. It hadn't helped.  
  
Obito had been taken as silently as the rest. And he blamed himself for not watching his back like he promised.  
  
  
  
Afterwards, it took him three days to track the missing nin down. Three days of finding freshly bleeding body parts in the pouring rain through thick mud. Three days in which he had only narrowly escaped the traps covered every inch of the land. It had been on the second day of those three days he had lost the eye. Exhaustion had made his reflexes too slow to complete evade a spinning blade but it could have been worse. It could have split him in half.   
  
He had driven himself to the bone. Desperate hope that he would arrive in time to rescue Obito had forced him to move faster than he normally would have.  
  
The cave where the missing nin had taken his teammates was deep and long. Only the nauseating scent of rotting flesh and old blood had helped him find the exact chamber from the plethora of similar caverns.   
  
There was where he faced the missing nin and his gruesome gory work.   
  
Kakashi gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus on the reality of his brightly lit kitchen. He hated to remember what happened after he got to the cave. Only, long practice on fighting of the memories, and the additional help of the newly acquired soothing relief from Iruka's words allowed him to succeed in forcing his thoughts away from that awful recollection.  
  
The jounin shook his head and grimly finished making the coffee he promised.   
  
Even with guilt of feeling like he was replacing Obito, Kakashi realized that he didn't want to give Iruka up. He genuinely liked the chunin, and there weren't many people that he could say about.  
  
And he trusted him completely and the individuals that he could say that about were extremely rare.  
  
It wasn't until Kakashi had the two mugs ready to drink that he realized that he had unintentionally broken his promise to Doctor Mesu. He swore and rushed back to the living room.  
  
He had left Iruka alone. For far too long.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
After he had managed to convince himself that he had just imagined things, Iruka gazed around the Kakashi's living room with burning curiosity. It wasn't everyday that the got to visit the other man's home. He couldn't let this opportunity to learn more about the silver-haired man slip through his fingers. Who knew when he would get another such chance to explore?  
  
The lechery part of his mind pointed out with a cheerful leer that the details of the apartment he picked up would be a great use in his Kakashi fantasies.  
  
Iruka blinked at the image of Kakashi and himself sprawled out on the couch, kissing. And naked.  
  
He flushed with thick desire and swore. He mentally admonished himself, this wasn't the time or place for this sort of thing! Had he no self-control whatsoever?   
  
Continuing to grumble to himself, the school teacher forced himself to stand up. Annoyance and the couch helped him remain on his feet. The room resumed its familiar spin. Iruka closed his eyes to shut it out and control his dizziness. He gave himself a minute before he dared to reopen them.   
  
The room, fortunately, had ceased acting like it enjoyed twirling around like a ballerina. Relief, brought a small smile to his face, before a determined expression settled in. Carefully, he didn't want to fall and worry Kakashi, step by wary step Iruka walked over to a set of seven photographs framed in silver hanging on the wall opposite the sofa.  
  
When he finally reached them, he saw the first photo that showed a young couple wearing ninja head protectors with the Hidden Leaf Village sigil. It was something of a shock when he finally realized that they had to be Kakashi's parents. The young man had the jounin's blue-gray eyes and the woman had the exact shade of Kakashi's silver-colored hair, bound up in a long thick braid.  
  
He gazed at them solemnly for several minutes before a another detail caught his attention and made him laugh. The chunin barely was able to move his hand fast enough to muffle the sound with a clamped hand over his mouth.   
  
It was just that he, 'finally' got a small mystery about the jounin that had been niggling at him since he had first seen the other man solved.  
  
It seemed that Kakashi's gravity defying hair was natural. And inherited from his father. The man in the picture had pitch black hair with an identical hair style to that of his son.  
  
Still grinning, Iruka moved over to the next photograph in the row. In it were a slightly older version of Kakashi's parents and held proudly between them, a small blanket wrapped bundle with a tiny pink face peeking though the cloth.  
  
Iruka groaned with disappointment, even in this picture, Kakashi's lower face was covered with part of the blanket. He would have continued to feel like that but another peek at the tiny Kakashi's eyes swiftly restored his moon.  
  
The chunin nearly melted to the floor at the overwhelming adorableness of a baby Kakashi. The tiny figure looked only a couple of weeks old. Maybe less. He looked sleepy but high intelligence shone in the big eyes of the baby.   
  
Iruka sighed with content and moved on.  
  
The third picture had the entire family together again. But in this one they were dressed up for some special occasion. Both adults wore expensive looking kimonos. Kakashi's mother had blue and red flowers woven into her hair. Little Kakashi stood between them.   
  
He couldn't be more than three years old, Iruka hazard to guess. He thought, Kakashi was still utterly enchanting.   
  
The school teacher was also bemused by the rather large multi-colored lollipop held before the boy's mouth and once again hiding his lower face from view of the camera.  
  
Iruka was beginning to suspect a conspiracy, perpetuated by a certain silver-haired jounin currently in the kitchen.  
  
"Kakashi probably decided to put up only the pictures in which no one could see his face," Iruka mumbled to himself. A quick peek at the remaining photographs showed that to be true.  
  
Oddly enough, rather than to once again grow dismayed about missing a 'another' chance to see the jounin's face, Iruka found himself getting excited. If there were the only pictures that Kakashi had dared to put up for everyone to see, that meant that there had to be even more photographs hidden somewhere. And the had to show a young Kakashi's face.   
  
So, if Kakashi's parents had been anything like his own…..then there had to be hundreds upon hundreds of photographs portraying a baby and toddler Kakashi. And they had to be somewhere in this apartment.  
  
Iruka was so elated by the prospect that he nearly bounced around like Naruto in an enthusiastic I'm-Gonna-Get Ramen!- high. The school teacher grinned and wondered if he could somehow get the older man to bring them out to show him. All in the name of friendship, of course.   
  
A nearly evil grin took over his face at the plan to 'finally' get to see Kakashi's face. Sure it would only be a child Kakashi's face but at this point the would accept anything he could get with a glad heart.  
  
Before he could move on to the next picture, a pair of gloved hands clamped down onto his hips and spun his around.  
  
"What are you doing off the couch?!" yelled Kakashi, his voice full of angry worry.  
  
Iruka tried not to wobble from his unexpected disorienting spin. He was so busy trying to look healthy that he completely forgot to answer and reassure the other man.  
  
Kakashi suppressed the urge to shake the brunet for his stupidity. How could he risk walking around when he could barely risk standing up?, mentally raged the jounin. He could have fallen, and injured himself and I wouldn't have noticed until it was too late, continued his anguished thoughts.  
  
Rather than being intimidated by the silver-haired man's fury, Iruka found himself touched by the concern and evidence that Kakashi did cared for him enough to grow mad at him over his welfare.  
  
"I'm fine," soothed Iruka with a calm voice. "I was careful. I just wanted to look at your photographs."  
  
This admission completely stopped Kakashi's mental ranting.   
  
Iruka smiled at the jounin and slyly continued, "You're a cute kid, Kakashi. If you have any more photos I'd love to see them."  
  
The silver-haired man blinked, caught off-guard by the other man's request. Al his mind could think of was that Iruka found him 'cute'. Sure it was only the kid him but the admittance made him grin under his mask.  
  
Then, Kakashi caught the mischievous twinkle in the chunin's brown eyes. With a leap of intuition, he knew exactly why Iruka wanted to get a look at those photographs.   
  
With most people this subversive way to get a look at his face since they wouldn't have been able to get under his mask would have made him severely annoyed at them. But the memory of how the school teacher had that exact opportunity and passed it up to respect his privacy and not look under his mask when he had been unconscious, just made him feel amused at this cheerful attempt.  
  
It was enjoyable. Their interactions were full of banter without cruelty or spitefulness that he occasionally received from other ninjas jealous of his skills. Or fear, which was even worse at times to get from people who he had devoted his life and loyalty.  
  
"Nice try," he replied dryly and reached out to tweak Iruka's nose. "I know a diversionary tactic when I hear it."  
  
Iruka clutched his nose with one hand, looking indignant at Kakashi's action. Then he opened his mouth to pretest that it wasn't what he was trying to do when the jounin grabbed him by the arm and carefully dragged him to the kitchen.  
  
With the same gentleness, the jounin set Iruka on the only chair next to a tiny table. He gave the school teacher a look, and once he was satisfied that the brunet wasn't planning on getting up, he went to get the coffee.   
  
The steaming mugs had been waiting on the counter so all that Kakashi had to do was grab them and head back to the chunin. He set the mug next to Iruka's hand.   
  
"Thanks," Iruka said politely. He took a cautious swallow, mindful of the heat. His eyes fluttered close. After the first swallow he practically inhaled the rest of it.  
  
Kakashi hitched himself up on the table until his feet danged just a few inches above the floor. His visible eye curved up with amusement at Iruka's soft moan of pleasure as he continuously drank his coffee.  
  
"Good?" the silver haired man asked. His own untouched cup was held in his hand.  
  
Iruka hummed his complete agreement. As a school teacher it seemed that there had been times in which he had lived entirely on coffee. The single coffee pot that eternally simmered at the teacher's lounge had liquid that had the consistence of tar, and just about the same taste. He often survived a day of teaching with three such cups. In comparison, Kakashi's coffee was a mouthful of liquid heaven.   
  
Looking down on the chunin, Kakashi felt a resurgence of warmth for him. When, Iruka's eyes opened up to look back at him, the jounin felt his heartbeat double. And when the brunet smiled at him with such happiness, Kakashi would it difficult to breathe.  
  
Iruka really was pretty attractive, he thought.  
  
It was this thought more than anything else that made him follow through on his impulse to bring his hand up and pull down his mask.  
  
*-*-*-*-  
  
Iruka had been enjoying the twin pleasures of great coffee and the close presence of the object of his fantasies, when he saw Kakashi's hand move up towards his face.   
  
At first his mind was confused and he didn't understand the significance of Kakashi's action. But less than a split second later he made the connection and it was like having a bolt of lightning crawl down his back. The school teacher's heart nearly stopped with the hope and disbelief.  
  
To his vague distress, everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. Slowly, achingly slowly, Kakashi's fingers caught the edge of the black mask and pulled it down. Over his straight nose, to a flawless mouth and finally over a perfect chin.   
  
Iruka stared in awestruck wonder and joy. Kakashi had finally unmasked himself.   
  
And the other man was utterly gorgeous.   
  
The chunin's heart restarted with a nearly painful thump.  
  
Kakashi smiled down at him. Straight white teeth seemed to sparkle in the light of the kitchen. Nearly at once, Iruka could feel his cheeks begin burning with redness. His blush made the jounin's smile grow bigger and he winked at the other man.  
  
All this made Iruka feel dizzy, in a very good way.  
  
Kakashi, feeling a little self-conscious about Iruka's scrutiny, focused on his cup of coffee. The number of people that had knew what he looked like under the mask were so few that he could count them on his hands and have a few fingers left over. But he didn't regret adding Iruka's name to that short list. The jounin raised his coffee up towards his mouth and tilted his head back to swallow it in swift gulps.  
  
Iruka could practically feel his pupils dilate as he watched that long, pale neck swallow. Pure lust froze him in place, hypnotized by the other man.  
  
Nearly at once, part of his mind wondered how he would last the night near the jounin and manage to keep his hands to himself. Hell, he didn't think he could keep his self-control intact for the next ten minutes. He swallowed down his sense of panic.  
  
I'm in trouble, Iruka thought.   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Sasuke focused his chakra to his feet and 'walked' up a tall and old tree. He knew that he could use a running start to get to the top but he preferred walking. It made the chakra excise twice as difficult to walk than to run.  
  
The mental concentration he used to stick and unstuck his feet as he got higher and higher into the leafy boughs of the tree was enough to keep his mind off other things. Useless things, like bouncy blond teammates and stealing kisses he didn't deserve.  
  
When he reached the highest, thinnest possible branch that would still support his weight, Sasuke relaxed. At once, to his considerable irritation, thoughts of Naruto swiftly returned.  
  
The dark, haired boy sat on his branch and brooded. Part of him couldn't believe that he had done 'that'. That he'd actually kissed Naruto. He had been dealing with his feelings for the blond boy by burying them as far back into his mind as he could stuff that sealed mental box.   
  
But now? Today forced him to confront those hidden emotions with a horrified realization that instead of fading away, like he had hoped, those feelings had, instead, grown even stronger than before.  
  
Nevermind, that he still had issues to deal with over the fact that these feelings were for another boy, before even bring up that it was Naruto that was the object of his affections. Naruto!  
  
He scowled up at the clouds currently hiding the moon from his sight, as if they were the cause of all his problems.  
  
Sasuke knew that he couldn't afford to have such feelings for anyone, male or female, it didn't matter. His entire reason to exist was to avenge his clan. His only reason for living was this very same goal. It was in his every thought, in every breath he took, it was the driving force to excel in being the strongest ninja he could be. Except….  
  
Except…when he is near to Naruto those loudly, screaming thoughts of avenging his family dimmed and became nothing but faint whispering in the wind. Too dim to even be comprehend their words.  
  
It seemed, thought Sasuke, as if he had been born to battle and kill. And he trained for that with his entire being but when he was near Naruto that desire just drained away until all he felt was peace. Naruto brought his peace. Even with all their fighting rivalry, it never felt serious.   
  
The boy sighed. It was times like these that he wished he could stay as far away from Naruto as he could get so that he could increase the strength of his chakra and perfect his nin-jutsus without any distraction.  
  
But even if it was possible, after time he would find himself returning to the other boy's presence. It was disturbing to realize how often he seemed to need to reassure himself of Naruto's existence and well-being. He could never go too long without taking a moment to check up on him.  
  
Sasuke sighed, and slumped against the thing tree trunk. Maybe, he thought dully, it would be better, in the long run, to admit his feelings for Naruto to him. Let the other boy laugh in his face and stomp and grind him into the dirt with his rejection. At least then he could start to get over him. He could do it. He didn't fear the pain. Then, afterwards he could be as dead, and cold inside his heart as he often acted.  
  
But what if that didn't happen? What is instead of laughing in your face, he feels the same, whispered part of his mind.  
  
Sasuke slammed his head back against the trunk with a soft thud. In response the tree top shivered. The dark haired boy ignored it.   
  
The hope that Naruto could possible feel the same way about him refused to die out. Even thought he knew that he couldn't even imagine it happening, that sliver of hope remained.   
  
In a way, that was what was really preventing him from just telling Naruto everything. Because if they both felt the same, then what? Dud they continue to go on as teammates? Or would they try to become more? And if that happened, how long would it last? How could having a boyfriend help him fulfill his vow to restore his clan?  
  
Sasuke brooded on these questions but no clear, acceptable answers came to him.   
  
Yet to him, this wasn't the only problem. There was also HIM.  
  
Itachi.  
  
He didn't doubt for a second that if HE somehow learned of his growing attachment to Naruto, the blond boy would instantly be in danger. Sasuke knew that he couldn't take such a risk.   
  
The problems he faced vanished as long as he ignored his feelings. If Naruto remained his rival then he wouldn't need to worry about any other potential problem that being in a relationship with the other boy would create.   
  
Sasuke sighed in frustration. He wasn't going to solve everything tonight. He might as well get some more training done before he headed home.  
  
With his next course of action determined, the dark haired genin proceeded to walk down the tree to the forest floor to resume his training.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
It wasn't until Naruto was well away from his house that he realized he didn't know how to get to Sasuke's house since he'd never had a reason to go there before now.   
  
He pondered on if for a second before deciding that it would just be faster if he asked someone. Looking around, Naruto noticed that the streets were pretty empty. He quickly brightened up when he saw a girl close to his age walking across the street.  
  
He figured that if all the girls in the village were so obsessed with Sasuke then one of them had to know where in the world he lived.   
  
"Hey!" he chirped. "Can you help me? I'm trying to find the home of Sasuke Uchiha."  
  
The girl turned to look at him. The friendly look on her face vanished the instant that she realized who was talking to her. She sneered, making her pretty face as ugly as a monster, "Why would I tell a piece of trash like you anything?"  
  
Naruto froze in shock. The pain in his heart was nearly overwhelming.   
  
"Now get away from me!" she snarled and stalked away.   
  
The blond boy trembled. He had forgotten. The entire village hated him.   
  
He had gotten so used to the way that Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and his teammates actually acknowledged him that he just forgot that the rest of the village wasn't like that.   
  
He stumbled away then broke into a blind run. Tears clouded his eyes but he refused to let them fall!  
  
Without even thinking of where he was head, Naruto ran with all his strength. Thoughts of Sasuke and finding him were no longer in his mind.  
  
All he wanted was to get away.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: *puzzled look* Is it just me or is Kakashi really not clueing?   
  
Ack! Got to feel sorry for Kakashi. His best friend and first love *winces* Ouch.  
  
*snickers* And there goes Iruka, being opportunistic again. And a snoop.  
  
*freaks out* Argh! Kakashi finally did it! He actually lowered his mask! *has a heart attack*  
  
*sigh* God I hoped the scene with Sasuke made sense. I didn't get as much time to go over it as I could have wished. *shrugs* Oh well, I can always fix stuff later.  
  
*snarls* Is it just me or that scene with Naruto make you want to kill nearly everyone in Konoha just for the mental torment they've put that boy through? Yeesh, makes an authoress consider joining forces is with the baddies.  
  
OK! Another chapter done! Yay! I'm crossing my fingers in hope that the next chapter won't take as long to write! And more reviews always make the fingers tingle to write. *wide innocent eyes*   
  
REVIEW!….pwease? 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
Disclaimer: I don't really feel like saying it right now. Get back to me in a few hundred years. *unhappy sigh* All screw-ups are still mine, though. *pout*  
  
Warning, I really think I should start calling this summary: an attacking Kakashi, a hiding Iruka, and a running Sasuke. Still down with the fluff-stuff.  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PG  
  
Pairing: For the entire fic? - KakaIru and SasuNaru   
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: I'm sooooo sorry for the lateness of this chapter. But it's actually not my fault! Ants entered my laptop and caused it problems so that I couldn't access anything. I ended up writing the entire chapter on my aunt's computer and on paper. It took forever to rewrite because I couldn't spend that much time on the computer. And the household I'm staying at doesn't own a computer. I'm just glad paper and pen didn't stifle my creative flow.  
  
*Sasuke-plushie blinks* You were actually so stupid you didn't back up the updated story?  
  
*glares* Don't call me stupid! Or you'll make me write the SasuIru fic idea that dancing in my head.  
  
*Iruka-plushie looks mournful* I'm uke again?  
  
*glomps Iruka-plushie* For you, I'd make it IruSasu!  
  
*Sasuke-plushie gulps and runs off, screaming*  
  
*satisfied smile* Ok. First I want to tell you how much I love everyone's reviews. I even get a kick out of death threats! (yes, I mean you: chibi moo mac) And for future reference, I don't think that there is any way that I will discontinue this fic. I enjoy writing it too much to stop until I get to the end.  
  
I have three recommendations! *super-happy bounce* The fics are:  
  
Love is the Strongest Energy by Suke-san, I just love this fic. And I needed to share the love. Bwahaha!  
  
Stuck in the Middle with You by cityneko, a fic that author cheerfully admits won't be yaoi but it's shounen ai enough for me to rec to any KakaIru fan!  
  
Both are intensely funny. Every time I see another updated chapter I go SQUEE!!   
  
And Side Effects by ChibiRisu-chan, truly one of the best mpreg fics I've ever read. And it surprised me how much I enjoy it.  
  
*authoress gets lost in a daze of happy recollection*  
  
*Iruka-plushie sweatdrops* I think that's all the talking she's capable of for now.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
It took all or Iruka's self-control and long years of ninja training not to jump into Kakashi's lap and kiss him senseless. As it was all he could do was stare. Iruka couldn't stop himself from seeing that face he had long dreamed about actually in his reach. Trying to stop gaping like an idiot, he blurted out the first thing on his mind. "You're gorgeous!"  
  
Kakashi blinked in surprise, then the jounin grinned at the mortified expression on the chunin's face. He probably hadn't meant to say that, he thought to himself, amused. It gave him a perfect topic to use to relentlessly tease the other man. He needed the ammunition when it came to this chunin.  
  
It also sparked off the hope that maybe the other man would find him attractive, and not just in a platonic, purely aesthetics sort of way.  
  
At the same instant Iruka slapped a hand over his mouth and stuttered, "Í-I me-mean you-u have a perfectly good face. Why do you wear a mask?"  
  
The silver-haired man's attention turned to his question. Thinking about whether or not to answer. Before deciding he would tell the chunin.   
  
Smiling, the older man said, "I'll tell you. On the condition that you promise to never ever tell another soul. And if-"  
  
"If what?"  
  
Kakashi leaned forward and with his thumb, carefully traced out the scar marking Iruka's nose. "Only if you tell me how you got this."  
  
Iruka's already fraying control on his impulses nearly snapped with the urged to tilt his head back and let the jounin's thumb slip down into his mouth then he could tease it with his tongue.  
  
Weakly, Iruka protested, "It's not really that interesting."  
  
Kakashi nearly snorted in incredulity. That was what 'he' thought. Iruka didn't know how crazy his former students were to know where he got the scar. And this burning curiosity wasn't just limited to them. The chunin of the village had started a betting pool, which had grown to such a huge amount it had even attracted the attention of the jounin. He was mentally rubbing his hands together in greedy glee at the thought of winning all that lovely cash.   
  
The jounin gave Iruka an expectant look.  
  
Iruka squirmed. He was unsure about how to start. He had never told anyone this story simply because he thought it was too embarrassing to tell. But with the object of his affections looking at him like that, he could his resistance melting away.  
  
Iruka took a deep breath and gave Kakashi a firm look. "Ok, I'll tell you but you also can never tell anyone else. Ok?"¨  
  
Kakashi mentally kissed goodbye his fortune before nodding his agreement. He leaned forward eager to hear the story.  
  
  
  
"I was just seven years old,"¨ Iruka said calmly. "I had just been accepted into the ninja academy. And you can bet that I was rather excited about it."  
  
Kakashi nodded. He understood that perfectly.  
  
"I had decided that I needed to get started on my weapons training right away. And this was before I had any kind of lessons."  
  
The jounin winced. Oh, that was bad.  
  
Iruka saw his wince and continued grimly, "Oh, it gets worse."  
  
Kakashi cocked his head in a silent question.  
  
"Imagine, a hyper excited kid," continued Iruka. "In the living room, running around with his father's sword while attacking imaginary enemies."  
  
Ooh, Kakashi said mentally. Yeah, that was worse.  
  
Iruka shook his head in sheer disbelief of his younger self. "I was so busy running around like a maniac that I tripped over the rug. The sword when up." Iruka used his hands to mimic the sword's flight. "Then it headed down." Hands dipped low.   
  
"It landed across my nose." Iruka rubbed his nose as it twinged with phantom pain. ¨The only reason my head was chopped off was because my mother, who had been making dinner in the kitchen, looked over when she heard me fall. I never even knew that she could move so fast. She got over to me and got the sword before it sliced me up even more.¨  
  
Kakashi clutched his hands into fists and sent the spirit of Iruka's mother for saving the life of this man. Without her quick reflexes and a mother's desperate speed then he never would have gotten to know Iruka. He closed his eye and shuddered.  
  
By the time Kakashi had opened it again, Iruka was looking up at him.   
  
"¨So, you can bet I haven't told anyone that story before. It's rather embarrassing to tell people that I got hurt on a non-mission related, self-inflicted event," said Iruka with a smile. "Your turn."¨  
  
"Err," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and shifted his gaze off to the side. "Well, it's not very important. Down right boring really."  
  
"Kakashi!" yelped Iruka. "Don't even try to wiggle out of telling me! If that excuse didn't work for me it sure as hell isn't working for you!" Iruka growled at the jounin. Just because he thought Kakashi was devastating gorgeous, it didn't mean he was going to let him get away from telling him about his mask. Even if his pout was wrecking his resolve into shreds.  
  
"Ok, ok." surrendered the jounin. Abruptly, he asked, "Do you remember Sakamoto-sensei?"  
  
Iruka blinked at this non-sequitor question. "Um… not really… He had retired from the academy by the time that I was accepted. I heard rumors about him though."  
  
Kakashi glared at the total unfairness of having another ninja so close to his age actually go through the academy and escape unscathed from the clutches of that teacher.   
  
"He was a complete bastard!" howled Kakashi.  
  
Iruka jerked back, startled by Kakashi. Unbidden a grin leaped onto his lips. It always amused him to hear other complain about teacher. They always made the funniest faces when the remembered that the man listening to them gripe, was one of the 'evil teachers'. They also made the silliest excuses as they tried to get away.  
  
Kakashi didn't notice his expression and continued ranting. "If it wasn't for him then I would have been a genin at age five instead of 6. But that stubborn, strict, asshole, thought that I needed to have more control over my expression."  
  
"Well, I can understand that," said Iruka. "As a teacher you want your students to be the best that you can make them to be, including having control over their emotions."  
  
Kakashi glared at this breech of disloyalty.  
  
Abashed, Iruka raised his hands up in surrender until the other man mellowed out a bit and then waved him to continue on with the story.  
  
"Sakamoto was an unfair jerk!" grumbled Kakashi. "For the final graduation exam he decided that he would test how much control everyone had on their emotions and their expressions. I would have passed the test, if he hadn't decided to cheat and dressed up like a clown and made the weirdest faces." The jounin shook a fist at the ceiling at the unfairness of that test. "I couldn't help it! I cracked. And failed. You would think the uncompromising bastard would have given me a break. I was only five."  
  
Iruka bit back a laugh. He was starting to get a glimmer of the real story. He would bet anything that Sakamoto was like him. And just didn't want one of his students to start down the bloody road of the ninja without experiencing more of the carefree moments of childhood. Sakamoto probably felt that age 5 was just too young to become a genin, no matter how skilled the student.  
  
If he was ever faced with such a situation, Iruka didn't doubt that he would try to do the same thing. Not that he would ever tell the growling jounin that.  
  
Kakashi continued, not having noticed Iruka's expression. "I spent all year trying to learn to control my emotions, but I just couldn't. Then I saw an Anbu team heading back from a mission and I got the idea of wearing a mask. On the graduation test for that year, Sakamoto-jerk tried the same trick but with my mask on he couldn't see any emotion. He had to pass me." Kakashi grinned at the memory of that victory.   
  
"So, after al that time, have you learned to control your expressions?"  
  
"Of course!" Kakashi sounded insulted.  
  
"Then why do you continue to wear the mask?" asked Iruka.   
  
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, then he grinned, "I wear it because it makes me look mysterious….and it drives others crazy."  
  
Iruka blinked, then fell off his chair, convulsing with laughter on the floor.  
  
Kakashi glared down at the school teacher. He threatened, "See if I tell you any of my secrets again."  
  
This declaration didn't stop Iruka's mirth. If anything it made the man laugh even harder.  
  
The jounin increased the intensity of his glare at Iruka before he was struck by an idea that made his grin, rather evilly.  
  
With a war whoop he swooped down on Iruka.   
  
¨Tickle Attack- More Kakashi's Revenge!¨  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Naruto ran, unconsciously pouring chakra into his legs to make him go faster, and faster. He didn't notice the flicker in his chakra and the moment to blue glow turned red. Too many tears blurred his vision for him to realize his eyes had changed. They had become slitted and red.  
  
Naruto wasn´t even shaken out of his pain when he crashed into someone. He just reacted automatically and attacked.  
  
Both boys were soon trading blows. Their speed combined with the power they were putting into the fight transformed them into a destructive tornado that torn up nearby plants and made deep furrows into the dark dirt.  
  
Their emotional states made them blind to the identity of their opponent. Naruto was too deep in his hurt and Sasuke was wrapped up in his frustration/longing/denial over the blond boy.  
  
It wasn't until Naruto's power punch sent Sasuke slamming into a tree were both boys shocked out of their mutual mental turmoil.  
  
Panting Sasuke watched a frozen Naruto stare at him. As he wiped a drip of blood from blinding his eye, part of him wondered why he had never heard of Naruto being from an advanced bloodline. He had never see Naruto transformed. Nor had he ever heard of an advanced bloodline that produced slitted red eyes with claws and fangs. Then the rest of him took in the pained expression on Naruto's face and the sheen of tears in his eyes.  
  
Standing still, Naruto was railing at himself. He had tried to smash up one of the few people that actually acknowledged him. It didn't matter that the two of them were rivals that were constantly challenging each other, in his heart he had proof that Sasuke actually didn't hate him. That day on the bridge when the dark eyed boy had taken Haku's needles in his place had driven home the fact that Sasuke cared for him. And now here he was trying to beat him bloody, for no other reason that to lash out.  
  
Naruto hated himself.  
  
Sasuke took in a angry breath at the realization that someone had hurt HIS Naruto. But before Sasuke could ask Naruto what was wrong, the blond shuddered, spun around and ran off.  
  
Sasuke blinked, swore under his breath and ran after him. Even with his speed Naruto was already vanishing from his sight.  
  
The normally cold, stoic boy was worried about the blond. It was an agitating feeling that he wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. He was determined to find out what had happened to Naruto. But first he had to actually find him.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Iruka huddled under the kitchen table and refused to come out, no matter how much Kakashi coaxed, pleaded and alternatively threatened him. The chunin didn't trust the other man not to tickle him again, ant this was the only place that seemed safe from the man's fingers.  
  
But the most pressing reason for Iruka's unconventional hiding spot was the bulge rising in the crotch of his pants. He was huddled with his knees drawn up, and his arms wrapped around his knees specifically to hide his embarrassing erection from Kakashi's eye.  
  
He would have been fine, if the jounin hadn't attacked him like that. The excitement of having Kakashi, the object of his desire and other mushy emotions, touching him so enthusiastically had set him off. So, now he tried to hide and think cold, disgusting thoughts.  
  
It had taken every skill Iruka had developed at escaping from confinements to get away from Kakashi. Even now, he was surprised that he had actually managed to get away from the jounin.  
  
Once he had calmed down enough, Iruka was bemused to realize that at some point during the 'attack' Kakashi had actually managed to remove his flak jacket from him.   
  
How did he do that, thought Iruka incredulously. He hadn't even felt him take it off. Iruka felt himself flush at the thought of Kakashi undressing him like that.   
  
"Come out, Iruka," laughed Kakashi. "I promise not to tickle you anymore."  
  
"You are such a liar," responded Iruka in a conversational tone, somewhat muffled because the chunin was speaking into his arms.  
  
Kakashi grinned at Iruka, not bothering to deny that claim now. It anyone else had been around to ask he would have cheerfully admitted that he 'liked' tickling Iruka. The man squirmed in the most delightful way. And the indignant expression on his face when Kakashi had first launched his attack….well, the jounin was going to treasure it, always. Nevermind, how infectious his giggles are, just hearing Iruka laugh had made him join in.  
  
It was a glorious feeling of happiness.   
  
But now, the school teacher was out of his reach.  
  
What had made him decide to buy such a large table anyway? Kakashi mentally wondered to himself.  
  
The jounin supposed that he could use some nin-jutsu to force the chunin out but that ouwld ruin the entire fun of the chase.  
  
Had Iruka looked up at the moment he would have quailed to see such a hungry and calculating look in Kakashi's eye.  
  
"I have coffee," tempted the silver-haired man.  
  
That made Iruka raise his head in cautious inquiry but all he saw was the jounin, crouched at the end of the able using one hand to balance himself while the other gloved hand lay completely empty.  
  
Without coffee.  
  
Iruka glared. Oh, that was evil. Kakashi was an evil, evil liar. And evil liar that he was in love with who didn't even 'have' coffee.  
  
Unabashed, Kakashi smiled back, a charming of an expression as the silver-haired man could make it.  
  
Instantly, Iruka's cheeks flooded red. He hid his face and tried not to moan out loud as once again his previous problem 'sprang' back with renewed life. Just as he had gotten a hold on his treacherous hormones.  
  
Part of his mind, a very small part, wished that Kakashi would resume wearing his mask. If he was going to react like that every time he saw the older man smile, then he wouldn't be able to get away without the jounin discovering his attraction to him. And the overwhelming urge to jump his bones, added his libido.  
  
Kakashi swore under his breath as he saw Iruka return to his huddled position. Maybe, bribery would actually work if he had the coffee in his hands?  
  
The thought galvanized Kakashi into action. Within seconds he had a very hot mug of coffee in his hands.  
  
Carefully, the jounin blew a white curl of scent-laden steam at Iruka's direction.  
  
The scent seem to take a life of its own as it practically crawled up the school teacher's scarred nose.  
  
That sensory organ twitched at the siren call of heavenly coffee.   
  
Completely involuntarily, Iruka's head rose up from the protection his arms had offered. He ignored the mental alarms that were screaming that this was a trap!  
  
His brown eyes locked on the tempting image of his twin desires, waiting for him. All his danger sensing instincts were telling him to ignore the sexy man offering him one of his strongest addictions. But Kakashi's smile drowned out the alarms, so that he found himself crawling over to the jounin.   
  
Kakashi's grin widened. Ha! His trap had worked! Who was the greatest ninja ever?!  
  
The sight of that sharp smile made Iruka hesitate. Hormones and coffee cravings were not quite enough to kill over every single survival instinct he had developed over the years. Using his own body as a shield, Iruka formed his hands into a seal.  
  
Chakra glowed blue around him for the briefest of moments before a band of water wrapped up Kakashi.  
  
"Hey!" yelled Kakashi. He mock growled at the chunin who had moved with the fastest of speeds to rescue the cup of beloved coffee.  
  
Iruka inhaled a gulp of coffee before grinning back at Kakashi. "To paraphrase someone: All's fair in war and coffee!"  
  
The school teacher was done with his dark ambrosia, so he set the mug down on the table and got ready to scurry back to is spot under the table when two familiar, strong arms wrapped around him and held him in place.  
  
Shocked, Iruka threw a look at were he had left Kakashi bound up to see a clean white blender wrapped up in his nin-jutsu.  
  
Replacement technique, whispered the observationally trained part of his mind. "When?" sputtered Iruka.  
  
Kakashi chuckled, a warn and intimate sound that made Iruka shiver. It also froze him in place. His mind was reduced to babbling: Arms…strong…Kakashi…warm…Kakashi!...*whimper*…want….Kakashi…Gah! …Wicked fingers!!!  
  
Kakashi, with his arms around Iruka, had to hold back his first impulse to nibble on the man's ear. He would have eventually given in if the chunin hadn't moved his head and swapped him in the face with his head up hair.   
  
The silver-haired man glared at the hair. The idea of hair as a weapon was ridiculous. Mentally, Kakashi grimaced at the recollection of a bizarre ninja he had once fought that used his long hair as living tentacles. That had just been weird.  
  
Deciding to diffuse the possibility of having even more hair, that smelled rather good he admitted to himself, shoved up his nose Kakashi undid Iruka's hair tie.  
  
As soon as he had, Kakashi snickered. Iruka's head protector was making the brunet's hair fluff out.  
  
He looks like a bird with really funny plumage, Kakashi thought as he tried to hold in his laughter. The jounin was torn between leaving Iruka's hair alone and having a great time until the other man figured out what he had done or taking off the chunin's head protector and resuming his tight hold on Iruka.   
  
He ignored the mental voice that sniggered at him and accused him of cuddling Iruka.  
  
Kakashi decided that he liked the way Iruka's hair looked, so he would leave it the way it was and he would resume holding the man to prevent his escape. And any possible attempts to hurt him for making Iruka look silly.  
  
Delighted by his idea, Kakashi rubbed his nose against Iruka's neck.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: *giggles* And so now we know why Kakashi was wearing a mask even from when he was a kid. Such a silly reason and just so…..Kakashi!  
  
*happy sigh* It seems that concern for Naruto will prevent Sasuke from being an idiot and trying to ignore how he feels about the boy.  
  
*snickers* Iruka seems to love coffee more than Kakashi for the moment!  
  
*grimaces* I'm sorry for the extra short Sasuke and Naruto scene. The original version of this chapter had it be longer but I would myself smaking into a writer's block when I tried to rewrite it. So I went back to KakaIru, they're just too cute!  
  
Also, HUGE apologies if there are to many glaring bad grammar and spelling errors. I was kind of rushed to get this up so everyone could enjoy it.  
  
REVIEW!….pwease? 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
Disclaimer: Is anyone actually reading this at this point? *ponders* I could probably get away with saying they are mine……*evil gleam in eyes*  
  
Warning: More untimely 'pop ups' *cough cough*, a 'dirty' coffee discussion, a trapped Uchiha and finally… a bed!  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PG-13ish  
  
Pairing: For the entire fic? - KakaIru and SasuNaru, though this chapter is more KakaIru than anything else.   
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*  
  
Author's Notes: *beams* I'm totally enthusiastic! I finally got my laptop back, it took an entire MONTH but it's back in my greedy hands. *coughs* This is also the reason for the lateness of this fic. I kept spending my time getting distracted by things on my comp, actually getting to watch my anime & DVD. But! I finally got the chapter finished! Yay! Also if there are any kind souls out there who wouldn't mind sending me links, or even recs for yaoi/slash fan fiction [it doesn't necessarily be from ff.net or from my list on my bio] at JDML23@aol.com because I've lost all my favorite places! *sniffles*  
  
*Sasuke-plushie smirks* I actually encourage everyone to give her more fics to read. The more time she spend reading the less time she spend writing. And tormenting me, and Iruka. *he points to Iruka-plushie who is huddled, shivering and whimpering 'bad touches' in a corner*  
  
*shouts* Hey! I actually want them to send me stuff! You're going to scare them away!!!! *grumbles*  
  
*decides to ignore Sasuke-plushie and stares up at the number of reviews* OMG!!! Over 470+, practically 90 just since chapter 15! *gurgle, wheeze, thump!*  
  
*revives and glomps everyone* THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I love you all! You are all so wonder and kind, and supportive, and clever, and lovely, and…….*starry eyed* I would probably stalk you all like an obsessed Sasuke-fan girl if I only knew where you all lived! *radiates happiness*  
  
*Sasuke-plushie sweat-drops and stares at everyone* I don't think you should give her your addresses. Just in case. Really….just don't.  
  
*bounces cheerfully and still ignoring Sasuke-plushie* My recs for this chapter are:   
  
Each Other by midd- starts off KakaIru then goes OCxIru. It's fascinating because the premise is that after three years Iruka call off the relationship with Kakashi for what I think is a VERY GOOD reason. Then Iruka meets someone else. *eyes wide* Oh, it's only three chapters but I can't wait to see what happens. Can Kakashi get Iruka back? Will Iruka want to go back? *wiggles in anticipation* Want more!  
  
My second rec is For the Sake of My Lover by SanoGirl, only one chapter so far but its starts very well! I'm waiting for next chapter of that one as well! *beams* Though I'm very nervous as to what will happen to Iruka. *gnaws wrist*  
  
Ok! Done babbling for now! Go on read this chapter……what are you waiting for?  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Iruka remained frozen throughout Kakashi's ministrations, too stunned to even think about escaping, but when the other man *nuzzled* him, that was his breaking point.  
  
Overwhelmed, by the sensations that Kakashi was evoking in his already sensitized body and the earlier stresses it had gone through, Iruka's knees buckled.  
  
Shocked, Kakashi grabbed Iruka before the chunin slid to the floor. Worry was followed on the heels by guilt. The jounin began mentally raging at himself. He had been witness to what Iruka had just gone through. He had seen the man nearly die, while in his arms and in the space of a few hours he was straining the school teacher!  
  
Kakashi swept Iruka up, before the brunet could open his mouth up to protest. He carried him back to the living room.  
  
"Forgive me," said Kakashi, his voice still tight with anger at himself for his incredibly stupid thoughtlessness. He returned Iruka to the couch.   
  
"For what?" gasped Iruka. He was startled by Kakashi's abrupt mood change from teasing to this controlled fury.  
  
"I shouldn't have been bothering you like I have," Kakashi said. Iruka heard a hint of self-loathing that had leaked into the older man's voice. He continued, "I promised to take care of you and see that you get rest but what do I do instead? I teased you, forced you to take cover under the 'table' for crying out loud! I completely stressed you out when you should have been resting!"  
  
Iruka was mute with surprise, and relief. He thought that he had been discovered and that had angered the other man with his reaction to his closeness. But he also couldn't to see the pain in Kakashi's single visible eye.   
  
Iruka grabbed Kakashi's arms and dragged the jounin to his side on the couch, with controlled force.  
  
Bemused, and distracted from his negative emotions, the silver haired man bounced next to Iruka.   
  
They were awfully close on the couch, but Iruka forced himself to ignore the effect their proximity was having on him.  
  
The chunin kept clamped hand on Kakashi's bicep to keep the other man from trying to get away. Not that the jounin was planning on going anywhere.   
  
"Listen to me. I'm fine," said Iruka, seriously. "I haven't felt any dizziness in over an hour. Don't beat yourself for relaxing, especially in your own home." Iruka blushed. "Or for having fun teasing and tickling me," he mumbled. Trying not to express in his voice how much 'he' had enjoyed it.  
  
"Are you sure?" Kakashi was hesitant. He remembered doctor's strict instructions but most of all the nauseating memory of having Iruka's heart beat begin to slow down while he could do nothing about it. "In the kitchen I though you were going to faint."  
  
Iruka's blush darkened. He tried frantically to think up an excuse that wouldn't end up sounding like a horrible lie. He settled for a mangled truth. "I was just surprised. It was an automatic reaction to slip out of your grasp. I'm sorry if I startled you."   
  
Iruka would never admit to him, even under torture, that he was an automatic reaction to having Kakashi, the man of his hottest dreams, wrap his arms around him that had made him so weak kneed.   
  
Kakashi's expression looked skeptical.  
  
"I promise you," continued the school teacher. "If I start to feel bad, even if it's just a little dizziness, I'll let you know that every instant. Alright?"  
  
"You better," growled Kakashi.  
  
Iruka smiled, and Kakashi smiled back. The jounin was immensely relieved that it wasn't some drug induced reaction that had affected the other man, and nearly made him collapse. But now he was curious about the way the school teacher had acted. Iruka's explanation didn't sound quite right to him. Since he couldn't think up a better reason, Kakashi focus instead on the implied permission that Iruka had given him about being able to tickle the daylights out of him. He mentally gloated. Next time he wouldn't let the chunin escape him so easily.  
  
Kakashi was then thrown off his mental inquiry by Iruka's sudden and huge yawn.  
  
Both men were surprise by it.  
  
"I must be more tired than I thought," admitted Iruka, stifling a second yawn.   
  
Kakashi was suspicious. "How can you be sleepy? You just drank a cup of my strongest coffee!"  
  
Iruka blinked, then in a teasing voice asked the jounin, "That was strongest? I hate to tell you this, Kakashi. But….. I've had stronger…..sorry."  
  
Kakashi nearly smiled at that but instead changed it to a highly exaggerated insulted look that shifted into a pout. "But you acted like you loved it. All those noises you made." Kakashi injected a hurt tone into his voice, "Was it all just a lie?"  
  
Iruka had to bite down on the tip of his tongue to keep from bursting out laughing at Kakashi's deliberate overacting.   
  
With an equally as exaggerated sympathy, Iruka said, "I've had stronger, and better. I just acted like that so that you wouldn't stop giving it too me. I love it too much to say no when someone offers me it."  
  
Finally, Iruka let go of Kakashi's arm and settled it on the silver haired man's chest. He looked deep into the blue-gray eye that was sparkling with humor at him and continued, "Even though your coffee isn't the best I've ever had…… I will still…… always…..want it."  
  
Both men gazed at each other for a few heart beats before their expressions cracked and they sprawled on the couch howling with laughter.  
  
They laughed, until their stomachs ached, and when they stopped they had only to look at each other again before they broke into more guffaws..   
  
Both of the male ninjas reveled in the moment of satisfying emotional release.   
  
When they finally stopped acting like a pair of maniacs, both just lay in their limp positions, smiling and occasionally glancing at each other with twitching lips.  
  
When Iruka yawned again, Kakashi regarded it calmly. He stood up and held his hand out to the chunin, who in turn, clasped the gloved hand and allowed himself to be pulled off the couch.  
  
"Come on," Kakashi said softly, lingering good humor making his single visible eye resume it's familiar happy curve. "Let's get you to bed."  
  
Iruka blushed and chuckled. Grinning, he asked, "Tuck me in?"  
  
Kakashi laughed, and hauled the younger man in the direction of his bedroom. The act alone was causing a flush of excitement to surge throughout his body and sharpen his senses. The jounin replied, "Only if you promise me, you'll be a good boy and brush your teeth."  
  
Iruka's mouth twitched, "It's a deal. But I don't think I have a toothbrush here."  
  
Suddenly Kakashi stopped, causing Iruka to nearly crash into him.  
  
"You're right. I kind of did drag you here without warning. I didn't even let you go home to pick up anything that you could need."  
  
Cheerfully, Iruka said, "You can say I did that same thing to you last night."   
  
Kakashi had to grin at that, it was true. "How about this? You can use my shower and I'll stop by your place to pick up a few of your things if you promise not to collapse while I'm away." His worry for Iruka was clear in his voice.  
  
It was that worry that kept Iruka from insisting that he go home instead of staying over. He didn't think that the jounin would go for such an idea and he'd rather not end up tied to a chair so that Kakashi would be sure that he wouldn't injure himself. He swallowed down hard, at the very vivid image that gave him.   
  
He cleared his throat, and smiled reassuringly. "If you give me a clean towel before you go I'll be fine."  
  
Kakashi pointed the school teacher in the right direction and vanished in a familiar whoosh of chakra smoke.  
  
He was vanished so fast that he was gone by the time Iruka noticed that state of his hair.  
  
"Kakashi!"  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Sasuke was having such a difficult time tracking Naruto's trail that he decided to use his Sharingan eyes. They were better at catching small details than his normal dark eyes. He didn't wan to risk completely losing Naruto.  
  
As it was, he was astonished at how quickly the blond boy had moved. Sasuke had thought that he had the advantage when it come to speed between the two of them. Obviously, Sasuke was going to have to increase the difficulty of his training.   
  
If Naruto had managed to improve to much to the point that the blond had surpassed him, then he had spent too much time slacking off.  
  
The dark haired boy shook his head to dislodge the acidic, viciously critical voice and focused his attention on running and tracking his teammate.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Still running on instinct, Naruto covered his tracks by doubling back on his own trail and climbing trees. Due to his previous emotional shock though his eyes were back to a vibrant hue of blue, and even his hands no longer looked similar to paws that ended in claws.  
  
When he finally thought that no one would be able to find him, the blond boy climbed up the nearest, tallest tree. Naruto, curled himself on a thick branch and sniffed back his tears.  
  
Bad enough he had been forcibly reminded that the entire village considered him a monster to be hated and ignored but then he tried to practically beat bloody the very first person he met.  
  
It made it twice as bad that the person had been Sasuke.  
  
Naruto shivered. What was he going to do? If Sasuke hadn't really hated him so much before then he was bound to really hate him now.  
  
And if he knew I was the fox demon, he would probably try to kill me, thought Naruto, mournfully.  
  
Even though Sasuke is cold back, and asshole with an I'm-Better-Than-You-Will-Ever-Be attitude, the dark haired boy was the closest Naruto had ever come to having a best friend.   
  
And even though Sasuke's eyes were normally flat and free of emotion, they had never held the same loathing coldness that all the adults of the village had in their unacknowledging eyes.  
  
Naruto didn't think that he could stand it if they did.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Naruto screamed and nearly fell off his branch. He clutched the bark frantically, the roughness digging into the palms of his hand and tried to control wild hammering of his heart.  
  
Slowly, and more than a little frightened, Naruto turned to face his teammate.   
  
Calmly, Sasuke looked back at him. He had disengaged his Sharingan upon joining Naruto up in the tree and was now using one hand to hold onto the trunk with all his strength to keep his knees from buckling. Apparently, using Sharingan twice on the same day was more than his chakra reserves could handle. At least it, wasn't as bad as their teacher's reaction to such a drain. Sasuke could still move. Barely.  
  
Naruto's face looked like they boy was thinking of bolting away.   
  
Sasuke sighed, and sat down next to him, using the tree truck to brace his back. "If you run, I'll just find you again," he bluffed. "Now, tell me what's wrong."  
  
"Why do you care?!" Naruto shouted, scrubbing away at his wet eyes with his orange jacket sleeve. He hate for Sasuke to see him like this. The blond boy figured the other boy would only see it as a weakness.  
  
"I just do, dobe."  
  
Naruto snarled, "That's no reason. And don't call me THAT!!!"  
  
Real hurt colored the tone of Naruto's voice. After the sneering insults that he had just had flung on him Naruto could not tolerate any other.  
  
Sasuke sensed the difference immediately. Naruto's pain seem to enter him and he clenched a his hands into fists for a moment before forcing himself to relax. "I'm sorry."  
  
"WHAT?!!!" screamed Naruto, total shock nearly sending tumbling out of the tree, again.  
  
"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "You heard me."  
  
Those words made Naruto smile. A wobbly smile but it was a start to him getting back his hyper self.  
  
Seeing that smile made Sasuke feel that the sacrifice of those words was well worth it.  
  
"Who are you and what have you done with Sasuke?" Naruto said semi-seriously, starting to feel better, though his heart still ached.  
  
"You haven't answered my first question. What happened?" Sasuke asked. He mentally added, And who do I have to kill?  
  
"Nothing happened," mumbled Naruto. If he told Sasuke what happened then he would also have to explain everything including about the fox demon. Naruto scowled.  
  
Sasuke frowned. "You're lying. 'Nothing' wouldn't have sent you out here like that."  
  
"I don't want to talk about it!" yelled Naruto.  
  
Sasuke hid his hurt. "Fine." Then the dark haired boy narrowed his eyes, "Then tell me how you got so strong. When we were fighting you seemed to be transforming. Like you come from some advanced bloodline. Your eyes were red, and slitted. And you had fangs and claws."  
  
Naruto paled so much he looked gray.  
  
Sasuke jerked forward, concern exploding in his chest. "Are you alright?!"  
  
Naruto hadn't even realized what he had done. That he had let the fox demon get so close to the surface. "Yes. And I don't want to talk about that either," he said, his voice shaking.  
  
Sasuke gave the other boy a wary, evaluation look. He tried to guess the reasons for Naruto's odd reaction by the couldn't think of any. He sighed and in frustration asked, "Is there anything you 'do' want to talk about?"  
  
Naruto grinned weakly. He was starting to feel much better. Sasuke's presence was helping but also he had years and years of experience in dealing with his emotional pain. He probable wouldn't have reacted to badly to that bitch if he hadn't had his defenses down. It was a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.   
  
But this was also the first time ever that someone had bothered to track him down because they had seen his tears and wanted to ask him what had happened and if he was alright.  
  
And Sasuke's question reminded him of the entire reason he had for leaving his house in the first place. "Yeah, I do."  
  
Sasuke looked mildly curious.  
  
"Did you take me home?" Naruto asked. He still wanted to know who had kissed him!  
  
Sasuke froze, feeling like a mouse caught by a snake's hypnotic gaze.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
As Kakashi reappeared in Iruka's living room, he was suddenly grateful that he had been there before otherwise he would have had to practically tear the house apart trying to find everything he needed to get for Iruka.  
  
Moving fast, because having left Iruka alone was making him jittery. Soon he had everything he thought that the chunin could possibly need in a pile.  
  
He moved his hands in a slightly different set of chakra seals than those he used to arrive here, since Kakashi 'wanted' the stuff to travel with him.   
  
He vanished a in mighty swirl of wind.  
  
Lucky for him, he had picked up the papers that the school teacher had left behind and there was nothing that could have been blown into a huge mess otherwise Iruka would have been forced to collect the payment for it out of Kakashi's hide.   
  
When he returned home, the first thing that Kakashi did was to go check on Iruka. He put his ear to the bathroom door and heard the sound of water hitting flesh, or at the very least something that wasn't tile.   
  
Not that he was reassured. Images of an unconscious Iruka sprawled out limply under the shower spray come from his highly trained paranoid mind.   
  
He was so wrapped up in an internal debate about whether or not to open the door and check in on the chunin that he didn't notice neither the squeak of the water faucet being turned off nor the low pitched rattle of a glass shower door being slid open and then closed.  
  
A uncharacteristic moment of inattentiveness but the jounin was in the habit of dropping his nearly all of his guard when in the safety of his own home.  
  
Kakashi had finally come to the decision that he would check up on the school teacher. And he would 'not' take the opportunity to leer his naked body, no matter now much is inner pervert whined for it. Just as he was reaching for the door it opened.   
  
His stretched out hand hit something that was most definitely not made of wood!  
  
Iruka blinked his cocoa eyes and looked down to where Kakashi's hand was flat against his bare stomach. That Kakashi was touching him hadn't yet sunk into his shocked mind.  
  
Kakashi gulped. Iruka was wet, dripping vision in a rather small white towel. His hair hung wetly onto his shoulder and his skin shimmered with tiny water droplets.   
  
The chunin clearly worked. He had nicely developed muscles under smooth caramel skin.  
  
Probably taijustu training, murmured the ever logical part of mind.  
  
"Err…. Kakashi," squeaked Iruka. He coughed to lower his voice, hoping he hadn't like an embarrassed woman to the jounin. He ignored the fact that he was an embarrassed and 'turned on' man.  
  
"Um?" hummed Kakashi, who was watching his fingers on Iruka's warm skin with completely fascination. They twitched as the stomach muscles rippled and tightened.   
  
The silver-haired man was then thrown off guard when Iruka pushed past him, babbling, "Clothes. You got me clothes, right? Where-!"  
  
Iruka rushed off to the living room, saw the pile of stuff Kakashi had brought and was relieved to see a jumble of clothes on the nearest side.  
  
Moving as fast as possible, Iruka got dressed. Though he had a rather panicked moment trying to get his hard on shoved into his pants without damaging the delicate and sensitive equipment.   
  
He wanted to actually use it at some future point.  
  
The chunin nearly sobbed in relief as he finished with his pants. He was still tugging a large and loose shirt over his hips when Kakashi strolled into view.  
  
Iruka flushed and struggle pushed back his feelings. He swept an arm to cover the entire pile of his stuff spilled all over the other man's floor and asked the jounin jokingly, "Exactly how many nights are you planning on keeping me here for Kakashi? Or did you really think I would need all these things for just 'one' night?"  
  
Kakashi looked at the pile full of scrolls, clothes, two pairs of shoes, enough uniforms for an entire week, the promised toothbrush, a blanket, a pillow, the photograph of Iruka and Naruto he had first seen in the school teacher's bedroom, a stack of papers that were now scattered around, an apron, and finally a long red scarf. It wasn't even winter yet!  
  
The silver-haired man rubbed the back of his head and tried to restart his brain, which had seemingly shut down the instant Iruka had opened the door. He gave Iruka's things a bemused look. He had been so busy thinking up potential scenes of Iruka in danger and had moved so fast that he really hadn't noticed what he had grabbed.  
  
Waiting for Kakashi's answer, Iruka toed some of his kunai that were spilling out of a holster. He didn't know whether or not he should be worried that Kakashi seemed to think that he would need extra weapons for his sleepover.  
  
"They got lonely without you and threatened me with dismemberment if I didn't bring them to you," Kakashi finally answered rather cheerfully.  
  
"Inanimate objects threatened you?" asked Iruka, slowly and trying not to smile.  
  
"They were rather insistent!" Kakashi explained, at if that would make his previous statement actually make sense.  
  
"I would call you a liar, in that grand tradition that Sakura and Naruto seem to have developed, if I didn't think it would be a little self-evident." Iruka smirked and calmly picked up his toothbrush.  
  
"Hey!" laughed Kakashi. "I just did!"  
  
Iruka grinned at the other man and moved to walk past him when the jounin grabbed his arm and tugged him close.  
  
"You took the bandages off," said Kakashi, who had just noticed that angry red line on Iruka's temple, and the raw nick on his ear. Iruka lowered hair had made them both difficult to see.  
  
The chunin nodded, "There weren't going to do any good once I got the wet. Anyhow, they were only covering scratches. I've had worst wound just from training exercises."  
  
Kakashi bit back a protest. It was true, his own genin team had picked up worse hurts from the training he had put them through. They got worse injuries just trying to accomplish class D missions, though those cases it mostly Naruto that got them.  
  
After all, it hadn't been the metal dart that had endangered Iruka's life but rather the fluid inside them. But just seeing them, no matter how slight, was a rather painful reminder.  
  
Kakashi was then hit with an idea.   
  
Swearing at himself for not thinking of it earlier, Kakashi created a couple of hand seals and focus his chakra around his right had, until it glowed with a steady blue light.  
  
Not all of the nin-jutsus that he had learned with the Sharingan eye were purely combative. Out of the 1,000 ninja skills that he knew, some of them were healing/medical jutsus.   
  
Some genius he was, he should have thought of this a lot earlier.  
  
Kakashi carefully trailed a brightly glowing index finger over Iruka's temple. In turn, the scratch glowed then faded away, leaving the skin completely unmarked. Just as quickly, he healed the other man's ear, actually regenerating the little scrap of missing flesh so that the ear was whole.  
  
During Kakashi's ministrations, Iruka had kept his eyes closed, partly to block out the sight of Kakashi so close and partly to focus his entire attention of memorizing the feel of the jounin's finger. If he thought his skin normally tinged when Kakashi touched him then the other man's chakra enhanced fingertip was setting his entire nervous system into a delighted overload.  
  
"Thank you," Iruka said in a husky voice. The chunin swallowed, mumbled something about his teeth before dashing back to the bathroom.  
  
Kakashi released the remaining chakra for it to return to the normal chakra flow inside his body. He felt better for all the healing had been for Iruka and not for him. Seeing the wounds would just have resurged his doubts about seeking a new friend and in the darkest hour of the night that was exactly what he hated to face.  
  
He stared at all the junk on the floor before deciding to just leave it there. He didn't feel like picking it up. Kakashi then wandered over to check on Iruka.   
  
By now the chunin had finished brushing his teeth. Iruka blinked, his eye sight were starting to get blurry. He yawned and stretched out his arm. He nearly bumped into Kakashi on the way back to the living room.   
  
"Good night," Iruka said.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Kakashi.  
  
"Err.." Iruka hesitated, "I was going to sleep on the couch."  
  
Kakashi snorted, "When I told you by bed had room for two people, I wasn't lying! Come on. There is no way that I'm going to let you sleep on the couch."  
  
The brunet was dumbfounded. He didn't really think he would be using the bed, all joking aside.  
  
Kakashi continued, "Anyway, it will be easier for me to keep an eye on you if you're right next to me when sleeping."  
  
Iruka thought, Shit! We're going to share the bed!  
  
Kakashi led Iruka into his bedroom and sure enough, the jounin's bed was big. Big enough to fit five people, comfortable.   
  
Iruka crawled in and sprawled face down. If Kakashi was going to be sharing the bed than he wasn't going to risk any inappropriate erections making themselves known to the silver-haired man.  
  
The jounin quickly left to get follow through with his own habitual bed time rituals. Even though Kakashi wasn't feeling the need to sleep he wasn't going to leave Iruka alone until he did feel like going to bed. By the time he returned, Iruka had fallen asleep with the light still on.   
  
Kakashi smiled down at the man. The sight of Iruka sleeping in his bed appealed to him. It made his fingers itch for his camera.  
  
Deciding to hell with it, he found it and snapped a few pictures of the sleeping jounin. While not future blackmail material, they would serve a very handy reminder of this interesting, and eventful day.  
  
After he filled out a roll, Kakashi dug out his favorite book in the entire world and settled next to Iruka on the bed. He trained his sharp hearing to focus on Iruka so that if there was any sort of change in the man's breathing pattern he would be instantly alerted.  
  
The jounin opened his book and within seconds was sucked into the passionate, and highly perverted written world.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: *stares at Iruka* An automatic reaction to being surprised…..*drawls* and I have this bridge…..  
  
O_o I can't believe that little coffee conversation come from my head. Ooh, slutty Iruka…   
  
*scratches head* I hope my reasoning as to why Sasuke thinks that Naruto comes from an advanced bloodline makes sense. I figured, if you come from a ninja village that has someone like Kiba! You don't see an animalistic ninja and go: Argh! Demon! But rather: Aahhh, advanced bloodline or at very least some sort of ninja skill.  
  
*blinks* Oh, the cliché, Iruka dripping wet scene. *drools*  
  
*snickers* Yes, The Red Scarf….of Doom… Ok, maybe not of doom, but I couldn't suppress my urge to add it. After seeing it sooooooooo many times in fanart.   
  
*hides face in hands* I turned Kakashi into E.T. He healed Iruka with a glowing finger. Kakashi, phone home! *laughs herself sick* I have more proof! My subconscious seriously twisted!  
  
*stares at last scene and snickers* Well, I finally got Kakashi and Iruka into bed together. *giggles* I'm such, an evil, evil tease. *dodges various thrown sharp, and pointy objects* Aarrrgggh!! *crawls away, slightly bloody but still snickering*  
  
*a sign drops from above* Reviews make the sun come up, the earth turn and the authoress want to write quicker! Review! Review! Review! 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Disclaimer: No character used in this chapter belongs to me….curls up into a corner to sob  
  
Warning: Genin Kissage! A Spy?! And a nightmare  
  
Rating: for this chapter: PG-13ish  
  
Pairing: If you don't know by this point then I really, really have to ask why you are reading this.  
  
Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! Oo I believe in using a person's weapon against them. eg  
  
Author's Notes: Umm..I'M SOOOOOO SORRY!!!! slams forehead on ground  
  
My only excuse is writer's block. whimper Please don't kill me…  
  
Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!! For every single person who has taken their time to write me a review. Even though this chapter was long in coming, I'm grateful know that there are so many people that were looking forward to the next installment. crosses fingers Hopefully chapter 18 won't take nearly to long. gulps  
  
Go on and read the chapter.

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Sasuke fought back his urge to squirm under Naruto's blue glaze. Desperately, he tried to think, but couldn't think up anything to escape unless he ran off. And that would just admit his guilt as clearly as if he shouted it out loud. Even worse would be the repercussions of what Naruto would try to do to him once he had to interact with the blond boy again. Since they were on the same team, Sasuke didn't think that he would be able to avoid the blond boy for very long.  
  
At least not without becoming a missing-nin.  
  
He ended up falling back to his usual defense mechanism, "Well, I wouldn't have had to drag you across the entire village if you hadn't passed out from that stupid prank at the store." Sasuke suppressed his shudder at that memory.  
  
The same remembrance made Naruto smile, a wide and goofy smile, before realizing that it had been Sasuke in his room. And that meant…..  
  
GAAAHHHHHH! Naruto mentally screamed. Sasuke kissed me!!!!!! He kissed me when I was unconscious! Tha-That…..PERVERT! He should have waited until I was AWAKE ….what…wait…that's not what I meant….gah! I WANT SASUKE to KISS ME!!!! ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!  
  
Sasuke realized his attempt to distract the blond boy had failed with Naruto's eyes grew to the size of saucers. He quickly plotted ways to escape from the tree, glad that his location gave him nearly 360 degrees of freedom to move and move fast if he had to save his skin. The dark eyed boy looked warily at the blond and braced himself for the punch that would send him out of the tree which he would then use propel himself to another tree and run down to the ground where he would make his escape away from his teammate. Who would no doubt be baying for his blood right at his heels.  
  
So it came as a big surprise that after a few minutes of silence, Naruto shocked expression turned shy and hopeful. It rattled Sasuke further when Naruto asked him, "Can you kiss me again?"  
  
Sasuke was so caught off guard by this request that his hormones bypassed the doubts generated in his mind as to why that action would be a very, very bad idea and he leaned forward and gave Naruto a soft, sweet kiss.  
  
To Naruto, this was his very first kiss, that he was awake for at least and actually wanted to experience, and it was nothing like he expected. It was a gentle brush of smooth velvety lips pressed against his own but it caused his entire body to flush and light up as if someone inside him had just found the fuse box and thrown the switch to ON.  
  
Completely involuntarily Naruto gasped and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's waist. This was what threw Sasuke off. Startled by Naruto's touch, he twisted and ended up smashing his nose into Naruto.  
  
Both genins howled and clutched their faced in pain. They whimpered and grimaced until the sharp pain tapered off to a dull throb.  
  
Still rubbing his offended nose, Naruto scowled at the other boy, "You know, I thought you would be better at that."  
  
Annoyed and somewhat embarrassed over his graceless reaction, Sasuke snapped, "Well, you're the only person I ever tried that with!"  
  
Sapphire blue eyes widened to saucer size again at this admission. "Really, really?" squeaked Naruto.  
  
Sasuke turned bring red and was immediately chagrinned to having admitted that to Naruto of all people. Even if he was the boy that he had kissed.  
  
"Bu-But," stuttered Naruto, "You have tons, and tons of girls following you around wanting to kiss you all the time! You mean they never got to? At all?! Not one?!"  
  
Sasuke's mouth twitched with a small smile at the amazement in Naruto's voice. He leaned back onto the trunk of the tree and gave Naruto a sheepish look, "Let's just say that being the number one rookie in our class really helps when you need to duck and run."  
  
Naruto snickered at the image of Sasuke using his ninja skills to escape a horde of lust crazed girls.  
  
The other gave him a pained look which sardonic, "Just you wait and see how many skills you need to get away if they ever find out we kissed. Again."  
  
The blond boy blanched at that not-so-subtle reminder at the pain he endured last time.  
  
Suddenly, Sasuke grew tired of being up in a tree when he had already spent most of his evening climbing up and down various types of those botanical specimens. He stood up and got ready to climb down.  
  
It wasn't until he was several feet down that he called up to Naruto, "Well, aren't you coming? I haven't had dinner yet and I'm sure you have to be hungry."  
  
A delighted, and huge grin lit up Naruto face and he scrambled down after his teammate. All of a sudden he was starving.

It wasn't until they were walking on the familiar streets of the Konoha Village that Sasuke turned to look at Naruto. The pained expression that had sent him hunting after the boy was no longer evident in the blond's enthusiastic face. During the entire walk back, Naruto had been yammering about this and that which Sasuke had more or less tuned out.  
  
"So," the dark eyed boy asked his companion, "do you want to get ramen?"  
  
"Erm no, actually I wanted to go see where you live." Naruto answered, he still wanted to know where Sasuke lived, and it would be better to get that info from Sasuke then try his luck with someone else.  
  
Considering Naruto's infamous love of ramen, it was completely understandable that Sasuke pulled out one of his kunai and aimed the sharp point at his jugular vein, when the blond boy turned DOWN the offer of free ramen to eat.  
  
"Where's Naruto?" he hissed.  
  
"Ack!" screamed Naruto. "I'm Naruto, bastard!!!"  
  
Sasuke kept the knife leveled at supposed-Naruto's throat. Calmly he said, "Naruto never turns down ramen. You turned down ramen. Therefore you can't be Naruto."  
  
The blond boy rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath who really was the idiot of Team 7. "I just want to know where you lived."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you dummy, after I woke up at home I realized I was wasting valuable time when I could be tormenting you and making you do stupid stuff. I went out to find you but I didn't know where you lived. So now I want to know, Ok?"  
  
Sasuke's brain re-engaged as he reluctantly acknowledged that a spy wasn't likely to know that he had returned Naruto to his room that very same day, never mind the bet that he had lost. He pulled back his knife and muttered something under his breath.  
  
"What?" asked Naruto. Rubbing his neck and checking his fingers for any spot of blood.  
  
"Sorry," gritted Sasuke.  
  
"That's twice today," Naruto gave Sasuke a suspicious look. "I'm beginning to think you're the spy here."  
  
Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes. "Maybe we're both spies but we don't know the other is."  
  
Naruto looked enlightened, then very confused. "Wait. What? I know who I am. That doesn't make any sense."  
  
Sasuke sighed in exasperation, "I know. That's why I said it."  
  
"You're confusing me!" whined Naruto.  
  
"Not exactly difficult!" shot Sasuke back.  
  
And then the began arguing like they always did as if they hadn't just shared a kiss. Both genins continued on like they would on any other occasion and proceeded to get on each other's nerves as they walked in the direction of the home of Sasuke Uchiha.  
  
By the time that they arrived, Naruto was grumbling to himself at what the hell had he been thinking. Sasuke was the same asshole that he always was. No way was he cute! So what if his eyes were gorgeous dark pools that looked great against his pale skin! He still wasn't cute!!!  
  
Sasuke looked back to Naruto who was scowling and hadn't even noticed that they had arrived. The dark eyed boy rolled his eyes and sighed to himself.  
  
"We're here, baka."  
  
"Don't call me that!" Naruto retorted, then looked around in interest. His brow furrowed in confusion as he realized that he knew the area. "Hey! This is the same place where I tied you up during our lunch break after we got put on the same team!"  
  
"Yes," agreed Sasuke, his eye twitching at the memory of the shame he felt at being caught off guard by the worst student in the class. "Why else would I be here to eat?"  
  
Sasuke walked into the house closely followed by a sheepish Naruto.  
  
"Ha, I guess I did know where you lived," said the blond rubbing the back of his head.  
  
Sasuke just rolled his dark eyes in exasperation.  
  
Interested in what could be inside Sasuke's home, Naruto looked around with bright and eager eyes. But the living room, was completely empty. Not even any sofas filled the room.  
  
Narrowed eyed, Naruto spun to face Sasuke. Angry, he yelled, "Hey! I thought you said you lived here! It's all empty!"  
  
Sasuke nodded slowly. "I do live here. I just never have anyone over so why should I fill it with things I'll never use?"  
  
Naruto's mind was blank. He never suspected that there would be any else in the village who had an even lonelier existence than him. At least he had Iruka in his life, but who did Sasuke have? It seemed like there was no one at all.

* * *

After a few hour's Kakashi's internal alarm warned enough hours had passed and he needed to wake up Iruka. He set his book down, cover up, keeping track of his place among the pages. Gently, he wrapped his hand on the chunin's shoulder, alert for any ninja deadly response the other man could have to being waken up. But Iruka just mumbled something incoherent before twitching around to face Kakashi, though still asleep.  
  
The jounin frowned. This wasn't typical behavior for any ninja. All genin, well most he wasn't sure in counting in Naruto, were fairly light sleepers. Training endured in the ninja academy had long instilled the habit of sleeping with the mental equivalent of one eye open at all times.  
  
Kakashi tightened his grip on Iruka and gave the other man a firmer shake.  
  
"Just ten more minutes Mom, I don't want to go to school yet."  
  
Kakashi muffled a snicker. Ok, maybe he had nothing to worry about. It seemed that Iruka was just a heavy sleeper, he had probably gotten out of the habit of staying so alert. Something that he wasn't above using to relentless tease the other man about.  
  
"I'm not your mother Iruka. If I was you would have a much better hair style!"  
  
Iruka cranked open a heavy eyelid to squint at Kakashi in irritation. If he wasn't absolutely sure that he loved the silver haired man then the jounin would be scattered into itty bitty little small bloody pieces all around the room. Kakashi should not be the one to hand out styling tips. Not with his hair!  
  
As it was, Kakashi's beautiful smile made him forget his annoyance at being woken up. He hid his burning face back into the pillows. His skin shivered with the heat of Kakashi's body. They were so close together!  
Ignore it! He mentally screamed to himself. He forced a growl aimed at the jounin for cute remark. "Have pity on a school teacher, I need to get up early tomorrow."  
  
Kakashi frowned in thought, 'Iruka wasn't actually thinking that he could go to work, was he?' Disturbed by the idea of the other man exerting himself by dealing with a bunch of screaming brats, he said, "Maybe you should think about calling in sick. It wouldn't that far off the mark."  
  
Iruka forced his bleary eyes to open and squinted at the silver haired jounin. "I already have tomorrow off. I don't need to have today off either."  
  
Kakashi was a little bewildered at Iruka's answer and felt himself growing concern that this confusion was one of those 'symptoms' that he was staying alert for. Iruka noticed his expression, which was so much easer to read now that he wasn't wearing the mask and mumbled a reminder that it was past midnight.  
  
The jounin rubbed his single visible eye as if to clear it from the fogginess affecting his mind grinned in bemusement, apparently the lack of sleep was getting to him. Even with the negligible amount of drug in his system, the brunet was sharper on his feet than he was at the moment. And he had gotten up sooner than he was used to getting up on a normal day.  
  
"You know I think I'll join you in dreamland," Kakashi said cheerfully and returned his book back to the pouch that he wore as part of his uniform. He was already in a pair of comfortable blue pajamas.  
  
Silently, Iruka thanked whoever looked out of love struck shinobis because even with enticing view of Kakashi stretching out next to him on the bed he was already being pulled under asleep again. So all Iruka did was yawn and wish the other man a softly muttered good night.  
  
Kakashi trained his hearing on Iruka's sleep deepened breathing and told his mind to monitor the other man and to wake him if there were any sort of irregularities in the steady pattern of inhale/exhale.  
  
Then he easy and swiftly followed the other man into sleep.

* * *

Iruka smiled at the warmth of the bright sun on his face as he stretched out on the patch of ground he had claimed as his own. He wiggled his bare toes into the scraggly grass and the occasional vividly colored wildflower.  
  
A soft laugh by his side made him took at his side.  
  
He wasn't surprised to all to recognize Kakashi sprawled out with lazy grace at his side.

Iruka's smile grew even bigger as the other man flung a muscled arm around his chest and pulled him close.  
  
A content and perfect feeling filled him up.  
  
Kakashi nuzzled his neck before pressing a soft, wet kiss to his lips.  
  
Iruka closed his eyes kissed him back and murmured, "I love you."  
  
Hot liquid splashed against his eyes.  
  
Startled, Iruka jerked back from Kakashi. And gasped with horror.  
  
The jounin was now squewered with multiple blades, as if some god had though he was a pin-cushion and casually stabbed them into him.  
  
"No," choked Iruka, his brown eyes wide and beginning to overflow with tears.  
  
Kakashi's lips, stained bright red, twisted into a macabre smile. "Why did you say that? Now look what you did."  
  
"No." Iruka scrambled forward, raising his hands to the other man. "We have to get you to a doctor!"  
  
The silver-haired man shook his head mournfully. "Haven't you learned yet. There's nothing you can do."  
  
Behind Kakashi, Iruka saw the skies darken and a huge shadowed figure seemed to erupt from the forest.  
  
"You know what happens now. It is your fault after all."  
  
Iruka's eyes widened in terror as the Nine Tails, the fox demon grinned down on him then snapped forward his jaws and devoured Kakashi in a single gulp. The demon's vicious red eyes laughed at him.  
  
"NO!"

* * *

When Kakashi woke next it was with the uncomfortable feeling that something was very wrong. Something that he needed to focus his complete attention on. Instantly, the jounin was off his bed and holding his hands ready for form into a series of hand seals if needed, whether in offense or defense. A slow, and through scan of the room revealed nothing out of place that could have set off his instincts.  
  
It wasn't until the silver-haired man looked over to check up on the sleeping state of his guest did he realize the reason he had woken up. Iruka was curled up against the hard headboard, one hand clutching the hard wood with so much force that his nails were going to leave little half-moon indentions. His another hand was clasped onto his mouth and muffled slight whimpers.  
  
Kakashi was horrified to notice that even in this tormented state Iruka remained completely asleep.  
  
A nightmare. A very powerful one.  
  
His logical pointed out that Iruka had to be so used to dreaming such terrible things that his body knew how to act in order to silence himself even while deep asleep.  
  
Worried about Iruka, Kakashi knelt next to him on the bed and shook the chunin's shoulder. The muscles under his hands tensed then relax.  
  
Still completely asleep, Iruka's body shifted until he curled around Kakashi. The jounin blinked down and saw the tense and unhappy look the other man had melt away to a calm content.  
  
Delighted by the affect his presence had on the sleeping chunin, Kakashi wrapped his own arms around the brunet's slim waist. He settled himself back under the covers and snuggled into Iruka. Drifting off to sleep, Kakashi's fingers began a soothing caress on the skin of the chunin's lower back were his shirt had ridden up.  
  
'Soft. Warm," were the last thoughts of the slumbering jounin.

-------------------------  
TBC  
  
JD here! [a/n]: Ahh.  
  
Aren't Naruto and Sasuke so cute?! giggles  
  
twitches Ooh, poor Iruka, guess the guy's demons aren't nearly as settled as he thought. Ack, pun no intended!  
  
Come on Kakashi! You can feel up Iruka better than that!  
  
Again quick apology for the shortness of this chapter and the fact that it took me darn near forever to update.  
  
To everyone's piece of mind, I am NOT going to be giving up on this story! I want to see it through to the end!!!  
  
The only changes I will most likely make is gearing back on the SasuNaru moments. The are the ones that are giving me my most 'block' moments since I initially didn't even plan on writing so much on them. Sowwee!  
  
I want to thank everyone again for reviewing my fic, and not giving up on my updating even though it's taken me practially forever.  
  
Thank you, you can put your weapons of death and instruments or torture down now.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 

Disclaimer: The Naruto charaters don't belong to me…. The world is a terrible and dark place. -.-

Warning: Sasuke paint torture! Pervy Jounin Dream Sequence! And more coffee!...also this fic isn't beta'd..._sowwee_

Rating: for this chapter: PG-13 with a heading towards R…I think… I'm really bad at judging these things.

Pairing: KakaIru & SasuNaru

Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What! Oo I believe in using a person's weapon against them. eg

Author's Notes: First I need to say **OMGTHANKYOUALLSOMUCH** for the reviews. I can't believe there are so many. Thank you for reading my fanfic. I still can't believe there are so many people that enjoy it. _wobbles in shock_

Secondly, err….Sorry for the extra long wait…..Here's a longer than average chapter to make up for it! peeks over an armored shield DON'T MAIM ME!

Sasuke-plushie: _snorts_ What she doesn't want you to know is that she actually forgot about this fic for a few months.

Iruka-plushi: _shakes head_ She got distracted by Band of Brother and Static Shock. looks at JD

Me: screams Don't tell them that! Otherwise I'll never let you molest Naruto-plushie when he arrives Sasuke! Or Kakashi-plushie won't get near you Iruka!

Sasuke-plushie: blinks I take it all back. She was working hard on it. Slaved away.

Iruka-plushie: sweatdrops I'm not that good a liar.

Me: whimpers On with the fic!  
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Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and tried to keep from scowling. He didn't really want to feel sorry for Sasuke. The guy always seemed to have everything that he wanted. But then, his conscience prodded him with the reminder, he didn't really know the other boy that well.

So many wild rumors had circulated around the dark haired boy during their Academy training days that Naruto had just discounted all of them. Especially after he heard that stupid one that Sasuke was apparently a prince who had to flee his homeland due to a revolt of some greedy nobles and he was trying to hide himself in Konoha while trying to find the girl who would complete his soul before he could go back to reclaim his throne. For a while, that one had been the favorite of all the girls that mooned over Sasuke.

But one of them had been told by so many different people that it was hard to dismiss it especially now with the little nuggets of information Sasuke had let slip. That Sasuke was the last surviving member of his family.

The blond dropped his arms and stared at Sasuke's back. The symbol of the Uchiha clan never seemed more lonely to Naruto. Because how can you be a clan when you were the only one with such a name?

But for all that, Naruto found that he didn't really have any pity for the other boy. Instead the respect that he had always held for Sasuke since the boy was such a great fighter just grew stronger.

It also made him want to take back all the insults that he remember hurling at the boy. It was a painful realization to know that at the core they were more similar than they were willing to admit. Especially to each other.

"Sasuke…I.." Naruto struggled to form his complex feelings for the other boy into simple words.

Sasuke looked back the blond. The soft look in the Naruto's vivid blue eyes made him want to reach out and touch the other boy. At the same time it made him want to step back and lash out. He didn't need anyone pitying him.

He was about to do just that, to cut the boy down with words as was him habit when he remembered that Naruto's life hadn't been any easier than his own in it's own way. He wasn't blind, he had seen how the blond got treated by many of the villagers.

"Come on," Sasuke said forcing himself to reply calmly, his dark eyes flicking at the blond boy before moving off to the side. "There's furniture upstairs."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and trailed after the other boy up a short flight of stairs that led to the 2nd story of the house.

It hit him suddenly that he could use the power he had gained over the other boy to learn more about him and not just make him do humiliating stuff. Though he was hardly letting that go. He had way too many ideas that were too good to pass up.

He could make Sasuke actually talk and tell him stuff about his past! About any secrets he could have! And the other boy couldn't refuse!

The soft, nearly inaudible giggling fit that Naruto let loose made Sasuke's eye twitch and nearly run away from the other boy.

Sasuke rolled his dark eyes, and muffled a sigh. He suspected it was too much to hope that Naruto would be distracted from remembering the rather dumb deal that they had agreed to this morning. The other boy could be flighty but nothing could dissuade him from something that he really wanted to do. His constant declarations that he was going to be Hokage proved that.

The dark haired genin pushed past the door that led to his floor. An eager Naruto followed closely at his heels.

The blond looked around the room in fascination. But was quickly disappointed. The entire room, while not as bare as the lower floor, only had the fewest possible things necessary. A couple of wooden chairs that didn't even have cushions, a small low table, a tiny refrigerator on which rested a microwave, and a hot plate on top of that, and a some shelves holding canned food.

No pictures or even plants tried to personalize the space beyond what is signified. There wasn't even a calendar so at least there would be something on the walls. It reinforced the suspicion Naruto had that Sasuke viewed this place as just somewhere to live but not something the other boy would call a home. It dull, cold, and impersonal. A lot like Sasuke was sometimes, Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto sighed, then lit up as an idea struck him. He struck forward and grabbed a startled Sasuke by the hand. He proceeded to drag the boy behind him as he hurried down the stairs and out the door.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as he tried to dig his heels into the ground to stop them. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

Naruto turned enough to grin back at the other boy. His blue eyes sparkled, "We're going to my house to get a few things. Now shut up and run!"

Sasuke glared back and reminded himself that he couldn't actually kill him. Then he sighed and sped up until he matched his team mate's speed. He tugged at their clasped hands hoping that Naruto would let go now that he wasn't dragging him along but the blond boy just tightened his grip on Sasuke.

Sasuke flushed, a light pink tinge flooded his cheeks as he looked down desperately hoping Naruto wouldn't notice the effect that he was having on him. Unfortunately for his pride, this action meant that when Naruto screeched to a stop Sasuke didn't see it and proceeded to bowl the boy over.

Both boys tumbled to a heap.

Sasuke blinked up at Naruto who had somehow managed to shift himself on top of the dark haired boy.

Both of them stared at each other, stunned by intense closeness of their bodies. It was too much, especially since they weren't fighting each other at the moment and didn't have angry feeling blocking out any other feelings they could have. It made them even more self-conscious considering that they had shared a kiss that evening. And having their faces so close together was giving them both a rather vivid reminder of that fact.

Maybe it was the knock to the ground, or his rather low ramen levels that made Naruto reach out and gently touch Sasuke's lips with his fingers. At least that was what he would later blame it on but right then with Sasuke's hair so messy and the smear of dirt on his cheek, Naruto felt a surge of longing for the other boy.

It startled him so much that Naruto jumped up and away. He turned red and mumbled something under his breath that Sasuke didn't catch.

The Uchiha boy slowly brought himself to his feet all the while staring at Naruto. He had a hard time believing that the blond had actually touched him so gently. And that expression in his eyes, Sasuke wasn't too certain what it was but it wasn't anything negative.

It was something that made him own heart ache. Made the hope inside him blossom to new heights that maybe the other boy wasn't just curious or messing with him.

This was a doubt that had lurked in his mind. That Naruto had just wanted a kiss from him because he was planning on using him some sort of prank that he would later pull on him when he was least expecting it. Or worse, he knew how he felt and was going to use that to his advantage that would result in him being humiliated in front of the entire village.

But that look, even if he couldn't guess at the name of the emotion in Naruto's eyes, it was simply too raw and vulnerable to be faked.

Naruto cleared his throat, then said, "Follow me." Before heading into his house.

Sasuke followed at a sedate pace still wrapped up in thinking about Naruto.

When he finally reached the blond boy he found Naruto digging into a closet full of so much miscellaneous junk that it was spilling onto the floor like a rather chaotic and bizarre waterfall. He watched Naruto for several minutes as the boy would pull out and item, stare at it for a few seconds before putting it in one of the several piles that were developing behind him.

"So why are we here?" asked Sasuke, curiosity finally making him break his silence.

"We are going to decorate you house!" Naruto grinned as he pulled out a rolled up life-sized poster of one of his favorite models. She was scantily clad in a sheer white string bikini while wreathed in dark smoke. This was a rather old poster, that he had since long replaced with a better one.

"She was my inspiration for my Sexy-no-Jutsu!" Naruto beamed proudly as he showed Sasuke his treasure. "I think she'll look great on the back of the entrance door to your house!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched and he suppressed the urge to pummel Naruto for his stupidity. When had he ever given a sign that he was interested in that sort of stuff?

Naruto didn't notice the silent glare trying to burn a hole in the poster otherwise he would have rethought the idea of letting Sasuke have it.

Then to Sasuke's mounting horror Naruto proceeded to pull out several paint cans which were messy that various paint colors were spilled all over them. There were so many layers of paint that it was impossible to read the lettering on the cans to find out what color was actually inside them.

He shuddered at the thought of what his house would look like after Naruto had gone through it. Naruto's painting skills were notorious. He had painted the faces of the carved Hokages often enough that everyone in the entire village had a good idea at the level of those skills. And the worse thing, there was no way that he could prevent the other boy from doing exactly what he wanted.

For the hundredth time that day Sasuke asked himself why he had agreed to such a stupid thing like that bet. He should have settled for terms that wouldn't have been so embarrassing is he had lost. But then, he didn't think that he would lose. Well, the most he could do was try to minimize the damage that Naruto was going to inflict.

Naruto had emptied the closet to the point that he was actually able to fit most of his body inside it. He had forgotten how much junk he had actually stuffed in this closet over the years. Things like: outgrown clothes, broken training shuriken, the last training dummy, shoe box full of odds & ends that he'd found while wandering the village, a stuffed bear so worn half of its plush fur was gone.

It struck Naruto then, how so much of the stuff in his closet he had to get for himself because there was no one to give them to him. But also how now, so much of his house was full of things he had gotten as gifts, mainly from Iruka-sensei. His life had changed so much in the past couple of years. Even the presence of Sasuke next to him making odd whimper-like noises would never had happened before this year. It felt good to have him here.

Really good.

Impulsively, Naruto pulled out and spun to face Sasuke. He reached over and just hugged the other boy as tightly as he could.

Sasuke's body had tensed at the touch, ingrained training habits screamed at him that he was being attacked!

Only the complete and certain knowledge that this was Naruto, who he hadn't ticked off enough to attack him, prevented him pulling his kunai out of his holster. As it was it took him a few seconds to unclench his muscles enough so that he could relax.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Face muffled against Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto asked, "I'm really glad you're here."

Embarrassed at his mushy behavior, the blond boy jerked away from Sasuke and refocused his attention on what he had been doing in the first place.

Sasuke felt a warm glow inside him. It had been so long since he had heard someone say something so sincerely to him. And his fan girls didn't count. Maybe this wouldn't turn out to be such a horrible idea after all.

* * *

---Warning Pervy Jounin Dream Sequence ---- 

Kakashi stretched out on the warm sand, enjoying the heat from the sun on his skin. He felt the warmth sink into his body and melt any tension away, like butter before a fire element nin-jutsu. He sensed a non-threatening presence at his side so he opened his normal eye and smiled at the sight next to him.

There entirely naked with his skin glowing a light bronze in the blaze of the sun, and his hair freed from his normal hair tie so that it gently moved with the salty breeze was Iruka.

The chunin was sitting on a large blue beach towel as he watched the ocean waves crash steadily against the white sand of the beach, with a blissful expression on his face. He turned towards Kakashi and smiled at him with so much love and happiness that the older man couldn't help but hungrily grin back at him.

A quick glance around showed the beach to be surprisingly empty, so having no reason to control himself around the other man, Kakashi pounced.

He wrapped his arms around the younger man and kissed him before Iruka could even protest a little bit.

Iruka surprised him when he laughed, low and muffled against his lips, before kissing him back with a fervor that melted his brain. Kakashi licked at the chunin's lips then plunged into the other man when those lips parted. The jounin moaned and slid his hands up and down Iruka's bare sides. His tongue danced against an agile partner, smooth slick teeth and a warm wet mouth made a low heat start low in Kakashi's belly that quickly spread throughout his entire body.

He pulled chunin against him and to his delight discovered that he was naked as well so that he could feel every square inch of the chunin against his own skin. Kakashi's long fingers caressed a long scar on Iruka's side before skirting his fingers up to twist a copper nipple.

Iruka gasped in surprise then retaliated by biting down firmly on Kakashi's lower lip. Not enough to break the skin but enough so that Kakashi could feel it. Nearly at once Iruka sucked the aching lip into his mouth were he soothed it with gentle licks before he let it go.

Iruka squirmed in Kakashi's lap, sparking a fire of hungry lust. The chunin's dark eyes grew heavy and lidded. He gasped, "Kakashi. I want you."

Kakashi smiled and husked, "You have me gorgeous. Let me show you exactly how much of me you have."

And just as he was about to have a very, very good time on this beach there came a firm tap at his shoulder that made him break off his kiss with Iruka. Rather annoyed to the point of committing some cruel maiming, he turned to glare behind him but there standing before were two more naked Irukas both smiling at him and looking eager for kisses of their own.

Second Iruka had an arm wrapped around Third Iruka. Both were looking at the jounin and holding out their free arms towards Kakashi as they writhed gently against each other. "How about us Kakashi, you promised to teach us some new 'moves' you learned." Third Iruka said, while Second pouted prettily.

First Iruka chuckled, and said, "Yes, Kakashi. Show us." First Iruka gently and slowly scratched the line of Kakashi's spine before leaning forward to lick the pale curve of silver-haired man's ear, "Pleeeaaasssseeee." A warm hand began drifting down from his abdomen.

Second and Third Iruka looked on lustfully and stepped closer. They exchanged looks with each other before splitting up until he was surrounded by the Irukas.

Kakashi felt his eager smile grow to even wider proportions. Now, this was perfection!

End Pervy Jounin Dream Sequence-----

* * *

It had taken them a couple of trips to get most of what Naruto wanted back to Sasuke's home. But once the blond had everything he wanted he became a whirlwind of action. 

"Here," Naruto said as he handed Sasuke a paint can, "You can paint that wall and I'll do the other one." The blond boy grinned as he pointed the wall opposite of Sasuke's chosen spot.

"Alright," sighed Sasuke. He was resigned to the monstrosity that Naruto was about to make of his house. He pulled out one of his kunai and used it to lever open the paint can lid.

To his disgust the paint inside the can was pink. A shade that looked an awful lot like Sakura's hair. Sasuke was struck by the image of dipping Sakura's hair inside the can to see if the colors would match, then using her like a human paint brush. Shaking his head to dislodge such a fanciful image, Sasuke wondered if Naruto's thinking was somehow contagious. He would never had thought of a fellow shinobi in such a manner before he was forced to become a team with the other boy.

Finally admitting to himself that there was no way that he could put it off, Sasuke picked up a stiff brush and began to methodically to paint the wall.

He was about half way through when something caught his attention and his finely developed instincts had him jumping back. Sasuke was a tad too slow and a slow arch of bright orange paint spattered against the wall, his shirt and his face.

"Bwahahahahahah!" Naruto howled with laughter, clutching his sides at the expression on Sasuke's face.

The dark eyed boy clutched his brush so tightly the wooden handle creaked with protest before he very calmly dipped it in the can until it was full of paint and then swiftly tossed it at Naruto's head.

The other boy was too busy laughing to see this missile coming straight at him. He squawked with surprise when it smashed into his forehead, brush first. Pink paint fell onto to his hair and his orange outfit before the brush hit the wooden floor with a dull splat.

Sasuke winced at that. Maybe he should have thought out that move some more before giving in to his impulse? Before he could continue to regret his hasty action a wild scream jerked him out of his thoughts just in time to dodge Naruto's lunge.

The blond boy smashed flat into the still wet wall, covering himself in even more pink paint.

Sasuke muffled a snicker that escaped him. But it was just loud enough that Naruto was able to hear it. Naruto growled and just as he was about to charge Sasuke again, an idea struck him.

Sniggering, he pointed at Sasuke, "Don't move! That's an order!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he cursed himself for forgetting that stupid, STUPID bet!

Blue eyes sparking like water droplets filled with the sun's rays, Naruto stalked close to a still Sasuke. The brunet had to fight every trained instinct that was screaming at him to: move, fight back, pick up a weapon, don't just let him get you, you baka!

The effort to hold still was so intense that the dark eyed boy was actually shuddering. Eyes a little wide, he watched as Naruto took his brush and swiped a long orange strip downward from his forehead to his chin.

This was just the first step in an hours torture session unlike that of which any Konoha ninja had ever suffered through before.

* * *

When Iruka woke up the next morning with a nagging sense that he was late. It was a sense that came purely out of habit due to how often he needed to be awake this early during a week. So he half expected the ringing of a nearby alarm clock to sound off in just a few seconds. When it didn't he peeked open a brown eye and was instantly bewildered as to why his clock wasn't in it's usual location. That's when he noticed the odd weight on his chest and looked down to see a mass of messy silver spiked hair and the curve of a pale nose trying to dig into his sternum. And even in sleep, Kakashi left only one eye visible, though it was in it's familiar happy curve. 

Iruka swallowed back a squeak of shock. He took in a slow deep breath and stared at Kakashi. A warm glow of happiness bubbled up inside him as well as a strong yearning that this was a sight that he could see every morning for the rest of his life. He had such a strong desire to kiss the other man that he was shaking from the effort of preventing such an action. The chunin knew that his control would shatter if he stayed where he was for one more second so Iruka tried to see if he could slide out from under the jounin before the other man woke up and possibly killed him in a long and painful manner.

"Sneaking out after we spent the night together. I'm beginning to think that you're not going to keep your promise to respect me in the morning." Kakashi tsked, with his entire face locked in a peaceful expression.

Iruka was so startled he sat straight up causing Kakashi to slid down so that the silver-haired man's arms were now looped around his waist instead of his chest. And that straight nose was now poking into hard muscles of his pectorals. The chunin gulped and flushed bright red.

He fervently wished that what the other man was implying had been the real reason that he had for being in the jounin's bed.

Kakashi, raised out his arms above his head languidly until his entire body was stretching and flexing with a feline grace that captivated Iruka.

Iruka gulped again, and used that slight lift of Kakashi's upper body to slither out from under the older man's weight. "Um. What time is it?" Iruka tried to keep his eyes away from Kakashi. He didn't want to start getting too interested in the sight of the man sprawled enticingly on a bed when he couldn't do anything about it. There were just some torments that he couldn't withstand. No matter how extensive his training to stand against torture had been.

"No idea," Kakashi said sleepily. His single open eye watched the brunette with much more energy that he was showing in his body language. The flushed face sparked delight inside him, as well as fanning the hope that maybe, just maybe the other man would be interested in more than friendship with him.

Or he could just be embarrassed about being wrapped in the arms of someone who was practically a stranger, pointed out Kakashi's logical mind. He mentally growled at that.

Iruka looked around the room for a time clock but there was none to be found. This didn't really surprise him too much considering Kakashi's reputation as the most tardy ninja in the village. Such a careless regard for time probably meant that the jounin probably avoided looking at any kind of clock if he could help it. It had to take dedication.

Finally giving up Iruka was forced to peek out the bedroom's only window which as at the head of Kakashi's bed.

A careful study of the bright morning sun and the shadows that it cast only affirmed what the brunet teacher had been dreading.

He was late. And not just late for the normal early hour that he arrived at the academy, since he had a habit of being the first teacher there. But late as in his first class was already waiting for him to arrive and was probably about to start wrecking the classroom if he didn't show up in the next five minutes kind of late.

Kakashi sat back and enjoyed how the chunin became a human-whirlwind, most impressive since he apparently did so without the use of even a small hint of chakra, in the attempt to get ready for his class.

The silver-haired man became so involved in watching the younger ninja that he missed getting ready himself. But he as able to move fast enough to catch Iruka at his door. After all he had no compunction about using his charka energy.

"GAH!" Iruka nearly plowed straight into Kakashi, who was back to wearing his mask. "Weren't you- Didn't I just-?" Iruka blinked frantically, still half asleep.

Kakashi's single visible eye curved happily, "I think I need to join you today."

"Err…Join me?" Iruka tried to suppress the images that sprung to his warped mind at those innocent words. No! He couldn't afford to go face the diabolical, scheming urchins that were his students with such a mindset. The little demons would sense any kind weakness in his demeanor. And with those kind of thoughts, he would be way too happy to properly terrorize them.

"I got to keep an eye on you. What happens if there is a sudden flash storm, and the river filled up with too much water and there is a huge flood that swamps the school?" Kakashi asked calmly, waving a gloved hand in the air. The only indication of his wickedly, weird humor was his visible eye curving in happiness.

Iruka stared at the serious seeming jounin in complete and total confusion. What!

"I'm certain you aren't suppose to go swimming with that stuff you got drugged with still in your system. And that's not even taking into account that Naruto would probably cry at me if anything happened to you. So you see that why I have to be there." Kakashi flung his arm around Iruka's shoulder, leading the still bewildered teacher towards the direction of the school.

This more than anything else, affirmed Iruka's belief that he was in love with very crazy person. Would it be too much to hope for that someone, somewhere had written a 'Kakashi-speak to Sanity/Reality' translation book that he could buy? And maybe memorize?

He considered protesting the idea when it struck him that he hadn't planned any sort of lesson for today. So he could either spent the whole time reviewing information the kids had already heard a few of times before and bore them to the point that they would try several times to escape or he could inflict them on Kakashi for a half an hour or so while he thought of something. Kakashi was rather renown among the ninjas of Konoha with his reputation of knowing over 1,000 nin-jutsus. There was no reason that Iruka could think of as to why he couldn't exploit this fact and use the other man as a living show and tell demonstration on the many varied types of nin-jutsus that existed.

The students would really benefit from such a showing of various nin-jutsus. There was also a high chance that they would learn something that would help them with the assignment that he had given them the day before. And who knew when such a great opportunity would arise again, if he didn't use Kakashi's willingness to play Follow-The-Chunnin, there was no guarantee that next time the jounin would stick around.

This would be perfect! He would have Kakashi with him for a while unless of course the man got scared off by the thought of facing some thirty mini-ninjas in the making. Maybe the best plan would be not to tell him until he was actually in the classroom and couldn't really refuse. Or escape.

"Ok," Iruka agreed with a low laugh. "But I'm already late so we need to hurry."

"Oh, I thought we had plenty of time," Kakashi said innocently.

Iruka gave him a look which made the jounin relent from the urge to tease the other man. Kakashi, stepped close to the school teacher until their shoulders were touching. "Hold on," he stated as his hands began a quick sequence of hand seals.

Before Iruka could even ask what the jounin was up to Kakashi had formed his last hand seal and a swirl of intense wind wrapped them up.

They quickly vanished with the familiar poof of chakra smoke that quickly faded in the light morning breeze.

* * *

"Something must have happened to him! Iruka-sensei's never, ever late!" cried out Lotus, a ten year old ninja academy student who was going crazy missing her favorite teacher. 

One of her classmates looked scornful, "We're in the middle of the village. What could happen to him here? It's not like he's on a mission on anything."

Lotus narrowed her eyes at the boy. She knew that he was looking forward to the thought of having the morning free from actually having to learn anything. She fingered one of her kunai that lay in the holster attached to her waist and wondered if she could get in trouble is she hurt him. Just a little. Not many people actually needed their pinkie fingers, right?

Konohamaru jumped up with so much excitement, the goggles on his forehead threatened to fall off, "What if an enemy ninja sneaked in during the night and kidnapped him to torture information about the village out of him!"

"Do you really thing so, Konohamaru-chan?" asked Moegi, Konohamaru's female best friend. She looked over at Udon, the third of their trio, to see what he thought about it, but her friend just sniffed moistly then shrugged.

Lotus was distracted from the thought of contemplating if 'training accident' was actually good enough to let her get away without being punished for maiming a fellow student. She took the idea of an enemy kidnapping Iruka-sensei seriously, so somewhat panicked she added, "We need to go rescue him! Now!"

The rest of the class gave them both skeptical looks.

Konohamaru glared hotly at all of them, then paled as a thought struck. "Oh, no… if Iruka-sensei is hurt and we don't do something about it Naruto-bro is going to kill us when he finds out about it."

A few more of his classmates took this threat seriously. They had seen Naruto hanging around Iruka enough to know that such a danger was not to be taken lightly. Naruto was very affectionate towards Iruka so they had no doubt that he would be very unhappy if something were to happen to the school teacher.

"Ummn….If something happened to Iruka-sensei shouldn't we tell an adult," whispered one of the shyer members of the class.

"Are you kidding?" Lotus growled, causing the other girl to wilt, "If that happened then there would be no way that they would let us help rescue him. And then they would assign someone else to teach us."

Konohamaru looked nervous, "Grandfather told me that they have Ebisu-pervert on stand-by to teach this class for Iruka-sensei's birthday tomorrow. What if they bring him in a day early?"

Now the class looked really worried. They had the jounin level ninja, Ebisu, substitute one of their classes before and he was the most boring, torturous teacher they had ever experienced. Sure, Iruka-sensei gave them a lot of homework, tested them often, sometimes even shouted at some of them when they were just trying to catch a nap or sneak out but he never deliberately bored them to death nor gave them impossible things to accomplish that wasn't likely to be in their level of reach for at least a couple more years.

Just as Konohamaru was about the demand that they go out to track down their missing teacher a blast of air began to twist upon itself like the beginnings of a tornado.

Right before the stunned eyes of the entire class, appeared their tardy teacher. The class barely paid attention to the ninja slouched besides him.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" cried out all the kids in startled unison.

Lotus launched herself at the chunin, sobbing all the while, "You're ok! You're ok!"

Iruka caught her, his eyes a little wide at this display of hysteria from the normally calm, and at times maniacally cheerful girl.

"So you weren't captured by enemy ninjas?" Konohamaru asked looking disappointed that his idea hadn't panned out. He quickly recognized the silver-haired man standing next to his teacher. "Hey! Aren't you Naruto-bro's jounin sensei!"

At the mention of a jounin ranked ninja the entire class perked up. It wasn't very often they got to see high-level ninjas. At least none that weren't Ebisu-The-Bore as a few kids had taken to calling him behind his back. Usually all they got to see were genin and chunin level ninjas. And the Hokage once and a while, of course.

"Yes, this is Kakashi Hatake, also known as the Copy Ninja," Iruka said, as he seized this perfect opportunity to introduce the jounin. "He's here to show you all some different nin-jutsus that he has picked up over the years."

Kakashi's head snapped over to look at Iruka and his single visible eye widened in shock.

Iruka gave him a quick evil grin before looking innocently over to his students. "He knows over a thousand different jutsus so feel free to ask him to demonstrate a few for you."

The class cheered, while Kakashi's shoulders dropped. He gave Iruka a betrayed and pleading look that the chunin ruthlessly ignored. If Kakashi insisted on being here, he might was well make himself useful.

Kakashi then tried to sneak his hands into hand seals to get out of there but Iruka caught his arm and pulled him to the front of the class.

Iruka leaned close to Kakashi and whispered in his ear. "Please, don't wreck the classroom or break my students in any permanent way that will have their parents' rage bear down on me. I'm only going to be gone for about twenty minutes. Give or take."

Kakashi tried to protest, "You can't leave me here! The only students I've ever taught are the ones I have now. I don't know how to deal with brats this age."

Unfortunately for his future well-being he didn't bother to lower his voice and the entire class heard him calling them brats. Many were already plotting revenge. There were pranks that they could never pull on Iruka-sensei because he always seemed to know what they were up to before they ever happened. It was scary how their sensei knew how the pranks worked so well that he could just sidestep their effect or redirect it to the perpetrators. But this jounin had admitted to having no experience with kids.

Iruka winced, and raged an internal debate about whether it was a good idea to let his crush in the hands of his class, who were utterly capable of using their youth and innocent visages to utterly destroy any adult. After all these weren't normal children. They had been accepted to be trained to become future shinobis of Hidden Leaf Village. Killer instinct was a mild description to how they could sometimes act.

Iruka turned and glared sternly at his class. Firmly he told them, "I want you all to be on your best behavior. If I find out that you haven't. It will make the punishment of March 7th seem like easy low level training exercise." He scowled at them.

All the children cowered, and muttered, "Yes, Sensei," in perfectly meek and obedient voices. Iruka didn't believe it for a second but Kakashi seemed to relax. The school teacher debated warning the other man to keep his eye open for any pranks they could pull on him. Then decided that experience was the best learning tool and hopefully Kakashi wouldn't maim any of the students.

Iruka walked out of his classroom. The excited babble of children arguing over what kind of jutsu they wanted to see first was cut off to a low buzz by the thick wooden door.

The chunin walked down the long hallway that led to the teachers' meeting room. And it's adjoining file office.

He slipped into the office first. He needed to get some papers from the his assigned filing cabinet. Since there wasn't enough room in the school for each teacher to have their own office, all the teachers had cabinets that they stored the school work they needed to grade, past papers, progress report and anything else that they could possible use on a day to day basis.

The long term information, data which had been gathered on any single student over the course of the years that they spent in the academy was stored underneath the school in a guarded room. Only the Hokage could give the permission for someone to gain access to those records, since it stored all the data on every student the Academy had ever had.

Iruka just wanted to look at the sketchy learning plan he always developed every year. It wasn't as detailed as the weekly plan he made but he used it as a way of setting the goals that he wanted the kids to learn by the time they left his hands. Even if that was just to start in another class.

Iruka pulled out the slim cream colored folder. Flipping it over to May, showed that he had planned on developing the students ability to perform a jutsu beyond that which they needed to graduate. As well as having them work on their defense stances, especially focusing on how to react to multiple threats.

Iruka sighed and rubbed his eyes, giving in to a feeling a lingering tiredness that he had suppressed while in Kakashi's presence. He frowned at the sheet in front of him as he tried to plan the week out. With Kakashi in the class, Iruka didn't really want to give his students much of the analytical side of ninja training. They were bound to be too fascinated by the other man to concentrate on what they actually had to do. He could have them focus on taijutsu training. This would wear them out so that by the end of the day they wouldn't have the energy to be too disruptive.

He didn't bother working up a plan for the following day. Since he wasn't going to be in, the teacher who would take his place would follow his own plan anyway.

He did feel a little worried for the state of his class room when he returned though. The last time Ebisu-sensei had covered his class Konohamaru and his friends, Moegi & Udon, had led the rest of the class in a revolt that had only ended when a harried fellow teacher had shown up at his home and dragged him to the school to calm the students down.

Iruka groaned at the memory. He still couldn't believe that Ebisu-sensei was willing to come back and give it another try. But then the jounin instructor was rather famous for the level of loyalty he held for Konohamaru.

Quickly shaking his head to dislodge those thoughts, Iruka gathered up the papers he came in for and headed for the meeting room for a quick cup of coffee.

Hopefully, a mug of the stuff would be just what he needed in order to have enough energy to get through today.

When he was just a few steps from the door someone walked out took a look at him and slammed it closed. Whoever it was had been so fast that Iruka hadn't been able to recognize them. A second later, a chunin teacher by the name of Yama slid out. He stood in front of the door and shuffled his large feet.

Iruka blinked, very surprised by this odd behavior from an adult who was older then him by a few years.

"You can't go in there," Yama said gruffly.

"Err, why not?" Iruka asked, longing for his coffee and feeling more bewildered by the second.

The large, mountainous man stared back at him stoically then muttered, "It's too messy."

"Messy? Did one of the students sneak in again and wreck the room?" Iruka asked but the other teacher refused to elaborate. "Ah…well…that's no problem. I just want to get a quick cup of coffee. I don't really care about the mess."

A thick, muscled arm blocked his way, "You can't."

Iruka paused and mentally searched for words to describe just how much he really needed his coffee fix.

"I'll get if for you," Yama said. He was inside the door with it shut behind him before Iruka could accept.

He barely had wait a few more second when Yama reappeared. He held a mug in his hand that he quickly handed to Iruka.

"Thank you, Yama-sensei," Iruka inhaled his coffee with a happy moan and began walking back to his classroom.

Unnoticed by him, Yama had starting blushing at the sound of Iruka's moans and stared at the back of the other man until he turned a corner and vanished from view.

Behind him a the door slowly opened until a single brown eye was visible. "Is he gone?" whispered a female voice.

"He just left," Yama said calmly.

"Good," And it turned out to be Akane who had a smear of paint on her cheek from the sign she had made. "We can't have Iruka come in and see the surprise we are planning for him until it's finished."

Before Yama could agree with this, his fellow teacher grabbed him and pulled him back into the class room so that he could continue his assigned project of decorating the walls with crepe paper. His height made this task rather easy and helped him escape the untidy task of painting the signs.

* * *

TBC JD here! a/n: Normally I take this moment to sort of comment on my own fic but I decided to change this a bit! 

I have RECS:

Two hilariously funny fics:  
_Look! Look! by: meleth78_ &_Outclassed by: WinterOfOurDiscontent_

An angst/romance titled:  
_Butterfly in Reverse by Bite the hand that feeds_ who is the first to make me ACHE for Kakashi.

& also anything writitng by _Isolde1_especially _The Silent Bla_de eyes cross Guh, I HEART this fic so much!

And to anyone that followed _Side Effects by Momo_ a deliciously hot and very funny fic but can no longer read it since it's been taken down. You can find the first chapter at:

http(:)/ adultfan(dot)nexcess (dot) net / aff (/) story (dot) php?no544182362

Under the title Side Effects: Heiwa Version by MessyPeaches

If you want updates I recommend visiting us at the LiveJournal Community:

http(:) / www(dot)livejournal(dot)com / community / kakairu/

Itis a great community with wonderful people. Come visit!


	19. Chapter 19

Author's note: So one of my resolutions this year is to try to finish this story or at the very least add more than a couple chapters to it. And this small chapter is a way to get the ball rolling, if only to myself.

Chapter 19

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Iruka slowed down his pace as he neared his classroom. His dark, brown eyes narrowed in suspicion at the silence. When he had left it, the class had been very loud. He hadn't been gone long enough for them to have grown bored, and fallen asleep as a lot of them had the habit of doing in the mornings.

On the other hand, he had been gone for enough time for a jounin of Kakashi's skill level to have done 'something' to the class. Iruka's mind was filled with images of the children stuck in 'Kanashibari no jutsu', the body freeze jutsu. Then, the chunin was struck with a worse idea, what if instead of the kids being controlled by Kakashi, the jounin had fallen prey to their deceptively innocent faces.

Dreading what he would find, and cursing himself for leaving Kakashi at the relentless mercy of his students, Iruka opened the door.

His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.

Every single student had a Kakashi standing in front of them, or sitting next to them, answering their questions in low voices. Shadow clones, a lot of them, so that each student had the attention of one and, in some cases two, as they demonstrated a move.

The original Kakashi was sitting at the desk with his feet up on the counter and his favorite book in his hand.

Iruka bit back a smile. It seemed that having the jounin teach his class was a very good idea after all. Though, he was going to have to ask him to put THAT book away.

A frantic whimper caught his attention and he tilted his head as he followed the noise upwards.

There, flat against the ceiling, were two of his most trouble making students, when you didn't count Konohamaru and his friends. The boys' eyes were wide and frantic. Their own hands were clamped over their mouths but it was obvious that wasn't their choice from the pathetic noises they were making to catch his attention.

Startled, Iruka blinked and stared for a surprised second before looking back down and fighting back a smile. It wouldn't do for the kids to see their teacher laughing at them. Only a jounin of Kakashi's stature would be able to get away with doing such a thing, Iruka snorted mentally.

Iruka walked over to Kakashi biting his lower lip and reddening from the effort of holding in his laughter.

Kakashi peeked over at the chunin he'd been watching for since he sensed Iruka coming up the hallway that led to the room. The silver-haired jounin smirked underneath his mask when he saw the teacher's eyes widen at the sight of the brats attached to the ceiling. Well, that would teach them, he thought. Attacking a ninja of his level with that kind arsenal was the height of stupidity.

He didn't relax his pose on the chunin's desk when Iruka stood next to him. His face getting redder and his mouth flattened into a straight line. For a second, Kakashi feared that Iruka was angry at what he had done to the kids, after all he was older and more skilled then they were. Any unbiased observer could easily consider it an abuse of his higher shinobi skills. They weren't even genins but rather students who had just been accepted into the Academy. But then he saw the wild sparkle of laughter in the other man's dark eyes. Instantly, muscles he hadn't even realized had tensed up, relaxed and his visible eye curved up with happiness.

"I-I'm almost afraid to ask what they did," Iruka gasped, a subtle shade mirth made his voice tremble.

Kakashi silently reached into one of the desk drawers and pulled out the weapon of choice of those two pranksters.

The red water balloon in his gloved hand jiggled around as Kakashi presented it to Iruka.

Iruka snorted lightly and rubbed his eyes in chagrin wondering if this idea was partly his fault for letting his students play with the chakra created water bubbles yesterday. "Please, at least tell me that they didn't attack you directly," he begged, hoping to find some kind of silver lining from his students' actions.

"No. It was a direct attack." Kakashi said lazily.

Iruka groaned then turned and glared up at the troublemakers.

The two boys were instantly silenced and cowered. Which was a mean feat, since they were still glued to the ceiling. Both felt a sudden wave of relief to be out of their teacher's reach. Iruka-sensei was very, very scary when angered.

And not just the instantly temper trigger he had when he just yelled at them for a few minutes before calming down. No, he also had the slow smoldering anger that could keep going for days and days until you threw yourself at his mercy while begging for forgiveness. And seriously hoping he would put down that kunai he had clutched in a white-knuckled grip.

Iruka's thoughts sped quickly as he tried to figure out the best punishment possible he could put the two boys through. It had to be the perfect kind. They had, not only disobeyed him after he had told the entire class to behave but they had also disrespected a far more senior ninja. Really, using a jounin for target practice with water balloons was a near guarantee at a short life expectancy as it was possible to get while in the middle of the village.

The school teacher refused to let any students of his harbor such idiotic notions. Such lax thinking would get them killed. If they ever graduated from the academy. He was definitely marking their permanent record for this.

Kakashi watched Iruka with interest. He could almost see when Iruka decided to what to do with his students. A nearly malicious glint appeared in his dark eyes. It made Kakashi's insides flutter happily.

"I'm going to be taking them outside for a while." Iruka said calmly. "You don't mind staying in charge a bit longer do you?"

The jounin shook his head, silver spikes moving with water-like ripples. After the two boys had attacked and he had stuck them to the ceiling the entire class had not made a even the slightest move against him. If anything they went out of their way to be extra respectful.

It was a nice, though boring, change from the screaming disrespect he usually got from his team.

"You can let them go now." Iruka smiled at Kakashi. His brown eyes glinted with humor, "Feel free do drop them."

Kakashi's single visible eye curved up in response as he canceled the jutsu with an inaudible 'kai'.

Both men watched the two pranksters hit the floor with a simultaneous thuds. Their hands were finally free from their mouths, so both boys groaned loudly pretending to be more hurt then they actually were in hopes of evoking a smidgen of pity from their school teacher.

Not that Iruka would fall for such a transparent attempt to garner sympathy. He knew his students too well. And he knew the limits of punishment that they could take. That kind of fall wouldn't even leave bruises.

He walked over to them and tapped a sandaled foot in clear warning for the boys not to continue to try his patience. This made both younglings scramble to their feet all while trying to look innocent.

"Follow me," Iruka said, his voice tinged with exasperation. Then he lead them out the door.

Kakashi watched them leave and flickered his eye onto the class just in case one of the brats was inclined to attack him again. But all he saw was the rather sympathetic expression on their little faces and the empty seat were Konohamaru had been sitting.

All was well…..

Iruka would come back soon…..

…And find an empty seat……

……where a student….should have been…..

Alarm, of the mild non-life threatening sort, flared red hot inside the jounin. And made him scan the room in one swift, yet incredibly probing, glance.

No Konohamaru anywhere in sight. Though his two friends had that too guileless, 'I Have No Idea What is Going On' look that set off Kakashi's alarm to higher frequencies. They knew exactly where the boy was and exactly what he was doing, if they didn't he would never wear his mask again!

The jounin briefly regretted that he had agreed not to hurt any of the little bastards too badly. A good interrogation would have cracked those two and they would have spilled on exactly where Konohamaru had gotten himself to. And the fastest method of interrogation worked best when physical pain was involved. It was only when you had the prisoner captured and could take your time with it, that psychological methods could be used that could peel a mind like a grape and never harm the body. But Kakashi didn't think he had that sort of temporal freedom.

When had the brat gotten away? He had been here when Iruka entered the room. Kakashi was certain of that fact.

Kakashi felt a slight flush rush up into his cheeks as realization dawned on him. When Iruka had entered the room all his attention had focused on the chunin. Naruto at his clumsiest could have snuck out and he wouldn't have paid much attention to the racket. Even the very most paranoid part of his mind that monitored every possible threat had relaxed and been enjoying Iruka's presence.

He cursed himself, and made a mental note to ask that Iruka never be teamed up with him on any mission in the foreseeable future. At least not until he had eradicated his newly discovered weakness in his defenses. Otherwise such a mission with the chunnin would just end with both of them dead and that would serve no one. Plus he wouldn't be alive to enjoy the other man's presence.

He could see the class watching him out of corner of his eye. Some were pretty good, taking small casual glances that would have seemed completely normal if it wasn't for the rare few that were openly smirking and staring at him as if waiting for his reaction.

They were evil little critters. Kakashi respect for all the academy teachers rose by several notches. He also felt a sympathetic pang for the teachers he'd had in the past. The only soothing thought was that he'd only been in the Academy for only a brief time compared to regular students. So, he couldn't have brought his teachers that much trouble…could he have?

He had the sinking feeling that he'd be composing letters of apologies to his long ago instructors before the day was out.

Not bothering to be stealthy about his actions, the jounin signaled his a couple of his clones to pick up Konohamaru's friends.

There were forms of interrogation that left no physical traces. And he wouldn't even need to use the any special jutsus. Though he did feel somewhat strange over having to break out Anbu skills on children. Even if they were evil.

He decided he would take them out of the sight of the rest of the class. But first he set a gen-jutsu so that none of the other would take this as an opportunity to try to escape. He was exasperated enough about having to chase down a lone academy student without making increasing his search thirty-fold.

And he was under a time constraint. He had no idea when Iruka would return from whatever torment he was inflicting on his students.

Kakashi didn't want the chunin teacher to return to a class with a missing student. Well, to be honest with himself he didn't think that the chunnin would be that terribly upset since Iruka had Naruto experience when it came to dealing with rowdy kids. Kakashi just hated to think that the man would feel any kind of disappointment in him. He didn't want to risk the slightest chance that he would fall in Iruka's esteem.

That more than anything was the driving force behind his determination to get Konohamaru back.

He found an empty classroom just a couple of doors over, which was rather fortunate, since the kids were squirming and loudly complaining in his grip. He didn't feel like dragging them too far, and the closer he remained to the rest of the class the better.

He decided to start this off easy, "Okay, brats. Talk."

Both kids, exchanged a look with each other before turning back to face Kakashi. The girl child made a locking motion with her hands over her mouth before she passed an invisible key to her friend who sniffed moistly before also locking his mouth and tossing the key over his shoulder.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. So, they wanted to this the hard way.

Just as his hands started to meet up to start a sequence of seals that would set in motion a specific interrogation gen-jutsu, Kakashi heard the pitter patter of running kid feet heading towards them.

The kid was laughing, obviously delighted with something. And Kakashi, recognized that laugh.

Konohamaru.

As the grinning boy ran past the door of a room he thought was empty, a gloved hand reached out with lightning speed to snatch him and drag him inside it.

The boy barely got the chance to yelp in terror before finding himself deposited beside his rather wide-eyed friends.

Kakashi's satisfied, and rather frightening, grin was wide enough to be visible to the children even under the mask.

"One more chance brats. Talk."

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A/N continued: I want to give HUGE thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story. Even though its been a while. I especially want to thank those who've poked to me to remind me that I do have a story that's incomplete as I would forget is sheepish. Keep those kunai sharp just in case!


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